Legal implications

"When we were approached by the registry to make potential contact by the donor family, it was a difficult decision. Both of us felt quite positive about it right from the start. There wasn’t anything negative about it. We just had to consider how we would link the the donor family into our lives". Adrian

New donor conception laws came into effect in Victoria on 1 March 2017.

New law gives all donor-conceived Victorians the right to know their heritage

The donor conception registers have moved to VARTA

There are legal consequences that result from using donated eggs, sperm or embryos. Donors, recipients and donor-conceived people all have legal rights and responsibilities under Victorian legislation. For example:

donors are limited to donating to ten women (including any partner or former partner of the donor)
the treating clinic must report all births involving donor procedures to VARTA
you and your partner (if you have one) will be identified as the parents of your donor-conceived child
if both you and the donor consent to the release of identifying information from the Central Register, you can choose to have contact with each other before your child turns 18 years of age
all children conceived by donor treatment have the right to apply for identifying information about their donor at 18 years - or younger if a counsellor gives approval
all children born after 1 January 2010 will receive notification that the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages holds additional information about their birth when they apply for their birth certificate.

Information about the child

VARTA maintains the Central Register of identifying information about all donors, parent(s) and children born from donor sperm, eggs or embryos.

Your clinic is required by law to provide the following information to the Central Register:

the parent’s full name(s)
the child’s full name
the date and place of the birth.

Information on the birth certificate

The parent’s name(s) will appear on the birth certificate as the legal parent(s). The donor’s name will not appear on the birth certificate.

The Victorian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages will also mark ‘donor-conceived’ against their record of the child’s birth.

When a birth certificate is issued to an adult donor-conceived person conceived from 2010, a second page is attached stating that more information about their birth is available.

If the donor-conceived person requests more information, they will be informed that their details are on the Central Register, managed by VARTA. If they did not know previously, they will then find out that they were donor-conceived.

The second page of the birth certificate can be removed so that it can be used for official purposes, such as applying for a passport, without revealing that they were donor-conceived.

Under the Assisted Reproductive Treatment Act 2008 (Vic), recipients and donors have the right to information under certain conditions. Your clinic is required by law to keep specific information about:

you and your partner (if you have one)
the donor(s) of the eggs, sperm or embryos
the child born as a result of the treatment.

The legislation also established donor conception registers to record details of sperm or egg donors, recipient parents and their children.

Who are the legal parents?

The woman who receives the donor treatment, and her partner if she has one, are the legal parents of a donor-conceived child.

A donor is not a legal parent of a donor-conceived child. They have no legal rights or obligations to the child born as a result of their donation, or to the parent(s).

What information is kept about the donor?

Clinics are required to provide VARTA’s Central Register with identifying information about donors, including their name, address and date of birth.

Non-identifying information about donors, parents and donor-conceived children are also kept by VARTA and the clinic. This includes:

physical characteristics – height, eye colour, blood group
social information – ethnic background, medical history.

Parents, donor-conceived people and donors can request and receive non-identifying information about each other from their clinic, or from VARTA, at any time, without the need for consent.

Consent

The Assisted Reproductive Treatment Act 2008 contains various consent provisions. These provisions relate to issues such as the withdrawal of consent, and what happens in the event of death. These provisions must be discussed in the course of counselling, before you consent to treatment, and in the forms that you sign.

Thinking of using donor sperm, eggs or embryos?

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There are options available for linking donors and donor-conceived families including giving medical or family tree information, exchanging letters or emails or possibly meeting.

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