Children may track donor
parents
News.com.au
January 21, 2004
CHILDREN conceived with
the use of donated sperm or eggs will have the right to
trace their genetic parents under new legislation
governing fertility treatment.
The proposal is part of a major shake-up of the
legislation for Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART)
published by NSW Health following more than six years of
deliberation.
The consultation draft
bill falls short of introducing a statutory system of
licensing fertility clinics - as is the case in South
Australia, Western Australia and Victoria.
The changes in the
draft bill include:
* A CENTRAL register of
donors to allow offspring to trace their parents once
they turn 18;
* DISPOSAL of eggs or
sperm stored for more than 10 years;
* NO donation of
genetic material between siblings which would constitute
incest;
* THE ability of one
partner to withdraw consent up until the point when an
embryo is placed in a woman's womb;
* A LIMIT of 10
offspring to be created from a single donor; and
* BANNING of commercial
surrogacy - with fines of up to $275,000.
There is some concern
that the new register of donors could have a detrimental
impact on the number of volunteers willing to donate
sperm or eggs.
While most heterosexual
couples no longer rely on donor sperm for fertility
treatment, there is a huge shortfall of donated eggs to
help women conceive and donor sperm is in short supply
for use by single and lesbian women.
About 40 heterosexual
couples used a donor sperm service at the Royal Prince
Alfred Hospital, in Camperdown, in 1993. By last year
that figure had dropped to just four, while 20 same-sex
couples and nine single women used donor sperm.
If the number of donors
dips even lower, there is a danger the service could be
suspended in the next 12 to 18 months.
Sue Wisheart, from the
andrology department at Concord Hospital, which recruits
sperm donors, said: "Donors are extremely scarce. We
only get a few a year."
Staff at Concord have
been informing volunteers over the past few years that
the new legislation was expected and warning them they
were not likely to remain anonymous.
Many clinics now only
use eggs or sperm from donors known to the parents.
However, Leonie Hewitt,
of the Donor Conception Support Group, believes the
legislation does not go far enough.
The group has been
pushing for children already alive to be able to trace
their biological parents - as those who were adopted
can. "It's discrimination to acknowledge the rights of
prospective children, but to deny children that already
exist information about their genetic identity," she
said.
A spokesman for NSW
Health Minister Morris Iemma said: "The draft bill is
intended to reflect contemporary views about the rights
of people accessing this technology. The people who
accessed it previously did so on an understanding that
they would have anonymity."
