Victorian Laws.
(Department of reproductive medicine, patient information, donor insemination.)
In the state of Victoria laws differ greatly:
Here is an article that appeared in "The Age" newspaper today.
Bid to ease trauma as donors seek children
PARENTS will be encouraged to tell their children if they were conceived through donor sperm in a public education campaign expected to start in April.
In a move that has upset doctors, it is believed that the State Government is unlikely to adopt interim recommendations by the Victorian Law Reform Commission that sperm donors not be permitted to initiate contact with their biological children.
The $100,000 campaign will include counselling for families with donor-conceived children.
It comes after The Age revealed last year that under present laws, children of sperm donors may be contacted by the Infertility Treatment Authority asking for their consent to meet their biological fathers. Children will also have the right to initiate contact. The child must be 18. The first to be affected by the law will turn 18 in July but research suggests only one in three children knows they were conceived with donor sperm.
A Government spokesman denied it was going against the commission's recommendations, as they did not address the issue of whether the changes should be retrospective.
Authority chief executive Louise Johnson said identifying information could be released only with the consent of child and donor.
But Monash IVF managing director Donna Howlett said donor-initiated contact could have serious consequences.
CAROL NADER
posted by MAX at 9:47 PM
3 Comments:
That would be scary for the donors to be iniating contact. I am beginning to want to see the legal documents signed by donors when they work with the sperm banks. As there is no child at that point there is probably no release of rights to a child but there must be something of that nature.
That is the power of the blog to post current news that is relevant to the topic at hand. Cool timing.
I believe that in the state of NSW they intend to review the legislation at some point in time in order to allow children born from DC of having the option of obtaining information on their donor.
But they do not believe that the reverse is in the best interest of the child so no donors will have free access to information concerning kids.
this change of course will not be retroactive and so will only affect future couples and donors.
My donor contract which I still have in my possession was clearly only between myself and the recipient of my sperm. There could not of course be a contract between myself and the adult who might have been born as a result of any fertility treatment utilising my gametes since at that time they did not exist. Therefore, although the clinic undertook not to "voluntarily reveal my identity to any RECIPIENT" they did not therefore guarantee me the same indemnity from enquiries initiated by my child.The promise of anonymity they therefore assured me of would appear to be worthless. Given that I have no reservations about being contacted by my children this does not bother me. Hopefully, however, donor-conceived adults who wish to identify their donor might like to legally test the validity of donor/clinic contracts.
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