Lawsuit Filed on Behalf of Sperm-Donor Offspring
It’s not what you think – at least I think the main motive for the class-action lawsuit filed this week in British Columbia, Canada, is to allow the offspring of anonymous sperm, egg or embryo donors access to their medical histories. A secondary motive might be to gain a sense of identity by finding out who their real fathers are.
The lawsuit is spear-headed by Canadian Olivia Pratten, a long time activist against anonymous sperm donation. This exemplifies just one of the bioethics issues surrounding biotechnological intervention in the process of conception. For an interesting read on the topic, check out the chapter on reproductive assistance in Moira Gunn’s book Biotech Nation. Pratten’s lawsuit, against the BC attorney general and the province's College of Physicians and Surgeons, claims that the children of artificial insemination are discriminated against because the records of their biological parents can be destroyed in as little as 6 years after contact with the recipient ceases, and because doctors do not have to divulge any information, even medical history.
Source:
Bains, C. BC Court Issues Injunction in Class-Action Over Sperm, Egg Donor Births. The Canadian Press, Tuesday October 28, 2008.
I am so thankful of olivia Pratton for standing up for a person’s right to know their origins!! Isn’t it obvious?.. its a basic human right! So much pain and suffering is caused to those who feel deprived of this right, both for donor concieved and adopted. If those who write the laws were in the same postion as these kids, the laws would change instantly!! I was a donor and 4 me, it was a magical and spiritual blessing!! It was a holy thing. I always prayed 4 these wonderful kids and their fine families, and kept them in my heart with deepest love and respect. I somehow knew all was okay, and that one day I would meet them. But how?? Imagine my surprize when I saw the headlines on the front page the Sunday NY Times, “Hello you’re my sister, our father is donor 150″ I choked on my coffee!! I was that guy. I had always hoped to find out what happened after all these years..and hopefully meet some of the wonderful kids. I read how they felt, and I didn’t want to be a part of any more lies. I was a bit scared how they would accept me, and if there would perhaps be some very suppressive parents that might cause me anxiety. I thought, come what may, it is their right. Now we are friends. I have not nor will I ever replace any Dads who raised them. I honor their parents. Not to worry. It is all good. Thank you Olivia!
I am an egg donor. I also grew up without a father (I knew him until I was 3yrs old then never saw him again)
I think there is no actual solution to this problem as the egg/sperm donor has the right to privacy, yet the child has a right to know if he/she is in for any nasty medical surprises later on in life.
Egg and sperm donors are young and in their prime (between the ages of 18 and 35); they haven’t developed heart, lung and blood pressure problems yet so application forms and medical history filled out at the time of donating will be biased in that respect.
As a donor, I would love to be able to keep in touch with the family that receives my egg donation purely for the reason that if I develop a thyroid problem or a heart condition that could be hereditary, I can inform the parents of what to expect for their child.
My cousin never knew his father, and at age 23 was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes (which is hereditary). It was such a shock as he was not expecting this. His mother’s side of the family was healthy. He went into depression and got angry at the world. He still battles to come to terms with the way he has to live now. I believe that he would have handled it better if he had known about diabetes in his father’s family.
Having said that, I don’t think that children should be allowed to track down the donors that contributed to their conception. It is unfair to expect that from the donors.
What I think should be set up is a kind of a donor database, where donors can update their ‘profile’ and the parents can check if anything has changed medically. All anonomously, with a code system so that you can only access your child’s donor’s proflie. No contact with the parents and donors; you only deal with the database.
They can even add a sibling feature where children THAT WANT TO find their siblings can put their info on the database too.