Donor anonymity, or the right to know one's origins? (DOI: 10.2436/20.3000.02.21)

Abstract

Taking into account a recent decree enacted by the Catalan government stipulating the procedure to provide information on a person's biological roots, this article examines the tension between the anonymity of the gamete donor and the child's right to know their origin. The analysis of legal systems that recognise this right for children conceived through donated gametes spurs us to further examine the hypotheses, quite widespread today, which consider traditional arguments for secrecy outdated. In this regard, the article also challenges the different treatment granted to adopted children and donor gamete children by legal systems such as Spain's. Beyond the possible conflicting rights of children, donors and parents, arguments provided by anonymity supporters, such as the moral damage resulting from disclosure or the possible link between disclosure and a decrease in the number of donors, should be also taken into account. However, these arguments require absolute empirical evidence, which is not currently conclusive. Alternatively, disclosure of the donor's identity is consistent with the needs of donor families and with a major trend in family law supporting the right to know one's genetic origin, dissociated from biological and legal parentage.

Key words: genetics, biology, donor families, anonymity, secrecy, origins, right to know, assisted reproduction techniques, parentage

Original source: Butlletí del Comitè de Bioètica de Catalunya, 15: 1-11 (2015)