University of Tasmania academic Meredith Nash recently argued on The Conversation that women who donate their eggs for fertility treatments should be financially compensated. It’s a risky and time-consuming process, she argued, which should be acknowledged financially. Compensation would also lead more women to donate their eggs and address the supply shortfall.
But what she doesn’t address is the rights of the child created from such donation – arguably the most important concern and one that must be addressed before encouraging more women to donate their eggs. Children born from donated gametes (egg and sperm) must have access to identifying information about their donors.
Many donor-conceived children who don’t know the identity of their donor experience emotional difficulties and struggle with identity. As one man conceived by donated gametes in the 1970s described:
After having children of my own and holding them in my arms, I came to realise what my conception had truly deprived me of. I had lost kinship, my heritage, my identity and my health history. This realisation was crushing, depressing and immensely painful.
But recent studies show that if donor-conceived children are told how they were conceived and have the opportunity to know the identity of their donor from a very young age, they are less likely to experience psychological problems.
Donor conception in Australia
The regulations governing egg and sperm donation vary significantly between Australia’s states and territories. Four states – Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and New South Wales – have legislation governing donor conception.
Legislation in Victoria and NSW provide donor-conceived children the right to know the identity of their donor once they reach the age of 18 by contacting the state register. Western Australia allows individuals 16 and older access to identifying information after compulsory counselling. South Australia does not expressly recognise this right and has no register; individuals must contact the clinic directly.
The other states and territories are governed by the National Health and Medical Research Council’s (NHMRC) Ethical guidelines, which states children “are entitled” to know the identity of their donor. But the guidelines don’t outline how this should be enforced.
Consequently, the approach to donors, parents and donor-conceived children varies greatly between jurisdictions and the rights of donor-conceived people are routinely violated. And there is no clear procedure for ensuring parents tell their children they are donor conceived. Without knowing you are donor conceived you cannot exercise your right to know your genetic parents.
Victoria not only enables access to identifying information about donors, it has also taken steps to ensure parents tell children they are donor conceived. The Victorian Assisted Reproductive Treatment Authority (VARTA) provides public Time to Tell seminars, support and information around these complex issues.
But Victoria is an outlier. Last year’s Senate inquiry into donor conception found that in some clinics in states ungoverned by legislation, anonymous donation continues in breach of NHMRC guidelines.
The Senate committee called for various regulatory reforms including a national register of donors. Such a register would facilitate contact between donors, donor-conceived people and their siblings across state and territory borders, and would protect the rights of children born in states currently without registers.
Difficult questions
Donating eggs is not only a physically demanding process but can also be emotionally and psychologically demanding. Potential donors must be prepared to consider the rights and interests of the resulting child, the role they may play in that child’s life and the relationship they have to the recipient parents. Encouraging women to donate with the incentive of compensation without the corresponding support and counselling is a risky strategy.
If the true aim of compensation is to increase the rate of donation, we must be aware that a direct consequence of this is facilitating the birth of more children with the knowledge that the regulatory system on which they may later rely on, is not equipped to deal with their needs.
The United Kingdom provides a good example of strong regulation and legislation governing the rights of donor-conceived people. The establishment of a central authority and a central register means many of the problems we face here in Australia are avoided. In the context of the UK, taking measures to increase donation seems appropriate.
Ultimately, egg donors should be compensated. But this should take the form of true compensation for the risk of donation. And first, we need strong regulatory protections for those children born from donated gametes.
Sean Lamb
Science Denier
It seems these are two issues that have only a tenuous connection to each other.
BTW, if you think there is an inherent right for a donor child to know who their genetic parents are (I don't have an opinion either way), is their also an inherent right for every child to know who their genetics parents are?
Mhairi Cowden
Associate, Children's Policy Centre, Australian National University at Australian National University
Hi Sean, I am not sure what you mean by 'inherent' right. However I think that that the evidence shows that it is in donor-conceived children's interest to know the identity of their genetic parents.
I think this interest is strong enough to justify a legal right. As for all other children, I think this is a question open for debate. All children may have a moral right to know their genetic parents but it may be another matter as to whether this grounds a legal right.
Lynne Newington
Lynne Newington is a Friend of The Conversation.
Researcher
Hi to you both.
Yes all children do have the right to also know who their genetic grandparents are, and I think it comes under one of the articles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Children who have fathers clergy included, they are eventually left with no historical background of one parent, leaving a blank on their family trees among other reasons.
A little off the track, but relevant, is mothers have had to claim they were sexually abused to receive financial assistance, leaving the child unaware of their fathers qualities coerced to sign away their inherent right as a parent.
Stephen Mugford
Sociologist
We need, I think, to learn from the mistakes made in the 1960s and early 70s with the tsunami of adoptions (forced or close to it) that affected many thousands of teenagers and their babies. That was another 'stolen generation' that we are still coming to terms with.
When I discussed this a few years ago wth Julia Feast (then of the British Association of Adoption & Fostering) on a visit to the UK, she said to me that the whole debate about IVF, assisted conception, etc, etc, riding a tide…
Read moreDale Bloom
Analyst
There is also the issue of onselling of sperm, where a clinic “exports” sperm to other clinics around the world, and someone conceived through IVF may have many brothers and sisters they do not know about.
Should they be entitled to know who their brothers and sisters are?
I think yes, but many IVF clinics that carry out onselling think not.
Elvira Earthstar
logged in via Facebook
I fail to see how these rights are in opposition to each other. Both of these agendas can be pursued together, hopefully bringing about a situation where all members of an assisted family (the social parents, the biological parents, the donor conceived children and the broader family), feel respected, valued and clear about their roles.
Comment removed by moderator.
Sean Lamb
Science Denier
Phew!
I was worried you might be ill, Dale.
Some years ago I remember reading about two mice eggs being fused together to make viable mice foeti [sp? word?]. Of course you can only make baby female mice this way, but then again once you have mastered this technique you don't really need males.
Dale Bloom
Analyst
There have been efforts to make male sperm cells redundant, but it may not take long before the female ovary becomes redundant also.
“Rsearchers at the school have devised a way to efficiently coax the cells to become human germ cells — the precursors of egg and sperm cells — in the laboratory. “
http://med.stanford.edu/ism/2009/october/germ-cells.html
I wonder what will be told to a child produced from a stem cell in a laboratory.
Anne Powles
Retired Psychologist
I have concerns about the attitude of the prospective parent towards the donated egg if they are having difficulty finding a donor who is related or who is a reasonably close friend and who, can therefore have an on going honest relationship with the child throughout life. I also think that, in these cases most of the financial expenses and any later assistance needed would be met by the parents.
In my experience these would seem to me to be the potentially most successful experiences although many of the children I know are still growing up.
Like in all other areas of life, children are best served by truth and knowledge.
Dale Bloom
Analyst
“I also think that, in these cases most of the financial expenses and any later assistance needed would be met by the parents.”
The donor could be liable for child support, and even more so if they regularly see the child, or have contact with the child. There was a case in NZ where a man donated sperm to a lesbian couple, and after the child was born, he wanted to see the child. The judge ordered that he could only contact the child if he paid child support to the two women.
There have been a number of similar cases
For example:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Sperm-donor-ordered-to-pay-child-support/2007/12/04/1196530671521.html
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,271116,00.html
Phill K
Organisational Development Consultant
As the proud father of a 6 month old baby girl who was conceived through IVF, my wife and I will face some interesting choices in the future. We hope to have one more child, however at the moment we have 3 viable embryos that were created at the same time as our baby girl. If we are lucky and my wife gets pregnant from the first of these three to be implanted, that will leave us with 2 other viable embryos that we do not intend to use. If none work, we may need to go through another round of egg…
Read moreEm Fanning
Writer
Phill,
You bring up the 'existence' comment as if, because my parents wanted me so much, I must be grateful regardless of what loss I feel at being denied the right to know who my biological father is.
A loss, i will add, I feel despite the fact I have a loving relationship with both of my parents.
"If children who have no knowledge of their genetic heritage were asked whether they would prefer to know their genetic origins or to exist, how many do you think would choose the former?"
As a donor conceived adult this is both insulting and far from the point. Can I ask, would you honestly ever ask this to someone who was adopted?
For me it's more than the donor. All paternal connections are lost to me -grandparents, aunties, uncles, cousins etc.
So I dare you to sit there and say that it doesn't matter. Because who are you to tell me that?
Phill K
Organisational Development Consultant
Thanks for your comment Em, and I in no way mean to trivialise the hurt that may be suffered from not knowing who one’s biological parents are. Like many things that can happen in a person’s life I imagine that it would be very difficult to go through.
My point is not to say that the pain doesn't matter, but that you being here to write your response matters more.
Donors have a choice to donate or not to donate and if legislation reduces the number of people who make the choice to donate then…
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