There are sixty thousand Australians who have been born as a result of sperm donated by a donor. It is suggested that a national registry be established to regulate this information.
There is a proposal that this information should be available to those who benefited from a sperm donation when they turn eighteen - and that there be limits on the number of donations permissible by any one individual donor.
This basically comes down to the right to know your origin - and that can be crucial where medical history has a bearing on the chance of beating a deadly disease. There is also the chance of a person unknowingly marrying a half brother or sister.
But - opening the access door also brings with it an invasion of privacy for the donor, who in the past was assured of complete secrecy at the time of making that donation. It also brings into play the possibility of claims against the estate of the donor if some future law change upsets the present status quo !
Perhaps a national register should still preserve a degree of secrecy. A person born of donated sperm should have this recorded on his or her birth certificate and it should be compulsory for a pre-marriage check to access the registry to determine that the proposed marriage was not between related persons.
It would also be wise to make access available to the medical profession when needed, but on the strict proviso that this be in confidence.
Otherwise, to allow the person receiving life as a result of donated sperm to establish contact is to open a whole can of worms. In some cases, it may wreck existing marriages and may even lead to intimidation and crime.
If secrecy was assured at the time the donation was made, that contract should be honoured - and the law should be left that way !
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