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Donor children demand to be told parents' IDs
Sophie Goodchild, Health Editor31 Mar 2008
Ministers today faced a fresh challenge over fertility reforms.
A new campaign group has accused the Government of refusing to recognise the rights of children born through sperm or egg donation.
The International Donor Offspring Alliance says children who are not told the identity of their genetic parents are at risk of trauma in later life.
It is lobbying for a new style of birth certificate that would record the names of sperm or egg donors so children can track down their parents.
Last week, Gordon Brown was forced to allow MPs a free vote on plans to allow scientists to create embryos with animal and human cells under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill. This was in response to pressure from the Catholic church.
About 40,000 Britons have been born through donated sperm or eggs. The Government has already changed the law to allow children conceived after April 2005 to trace their genetic parents.
Peers have tabled an amendment to the Bill, which will be debated next month, that would mean birth certificates being marked with a symbol so children would know they were born through egg or
sperm donation. But campaigners say this does not go far enough. Tom Ellis, 25, of the Offspring Alliance, said: "All we want is parity with the rest of society. Adopted children have this information from birth, but our birth certificates are the only ones that can contain a lie."
However, Infertility Network UK, a support group for couples who have had children by fertility treatment, said parents should be left to inform their offspring privately about their origin rather than having new-style birth certificates. Spokeswoman Susan Seenan said: "We polled our members and the response was an overwhelming 'no' because a certificate is very much a public document.
"We are in favour of children being told they are conceived through donor conception but putting it on birth certificates is not the way forward."
Eric Blyth, professor of social work at Huddersfield University, suggested a solution that took account of both sides. "All birth certificates should carry a statement that there may be other information relating to the individual whose birth is recorded," he said.
"If this statement were on all birth certificates it would not compromise the privacy of any individuals."
'THEY LIED TO ME... IT FELT LIKE A BETRAYAL'
TOM ELLIS learned the secret about his birth when his parents split up three and a half years ago.
His mother told him the man he called "father" was in fact infertile and his genetic parent was a sperm donor.
Mr Ellis, a 25-year-old Cambridge mathematics graduate, said he was stunned by the revelation.
He said: "They [my parents] never really intended to tell me at all. It was a big shock - a really big thing to take in.
"It's very difficult - if someone lies to you then it's hard and feels like a betrayal." Mr Ellis added: "My brother was also donor-conceived but with a different father. I'd always assumed he was my full brother." The clinic where he was conceived, the Infertility Advisory Centre in London, has since closed down and former staff have refused to help him trace his father.
But he is determined to uncover the truth and has already registered with a DNA matching website to trace any other siblings his father may have helped create.
Mr Ellis said: "It's hard because there is very little information out there but we're going to keep pressing for this."
Reader views (8)
I'm considering having a baby through donor sperm. I just want to know the appropriate age to tell them. I think it's pointless at at 2 or 3 when they wouldn't really get it but maybe a little later.
If children aren't told then I guess that's down to the parents' call but it doesn't necessarily mean that offspring will go in search of biological parents does it?
- Tessa, London, England, 20/06/2009 16:25
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Yes, what on earth motivates a mother to tell that to a child at adult stage of his life? Should tell gently throughout childhood or never. Have to think of effect on child and not the mum's own agenda. Wow what an awful mum to have. Poor bloke.
- Pauline, Cambridge, UK, 15/04/2008 12:39
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Whether or not anonymity was intentioned or promised, no one has the right to deny a human being the truth about their origins. Tom Ellis - and the thousands of other donor 'offspring' on this earth - have a right to their identity. It's a human rights issue. Period.
And in response to Charlie in London, yes, there's no guarantee that the information about one's identity is going to be 'disaster free'. But that shouldn't mean that people don't have the right to know the truth about their own origins if they want to. To think that to suggest that individuals cannot handle difficult or complicated information the 'Pandora's Box' might contain is to treat them forever like children.
- Jean, Bainbridge Island USA, 02/04/2008 02:47
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Would you really want to find out. It's like opening Pandora's Box. You can't go back if the whole thing is a disaster. My father was adopted and wouldn't want to find the real parents for that reason. You don't know what you are letting yourself in for.
- Charlie, London, 01/04/2008 10:44
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It is completely understandable that Mr. Ellis would like to know who his biological father is. However, the donor didn't give up his rights when he agreed to donate. If he was donating under the premise of anonymity, he should continue to keep that right. It is one thing to demand ID release for future donors, quite the other to change rules many years after the donation took place.
- Robert Parker, Philadelphia, US, 01/04/2008 08:32
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Inherited medical defects are difficult to trace down if the source of both parents is denied. Who has more rights, the child, or the parent? In the event of a medical problem where information from the parents is required for a successful cure, than the sperm doner's identification and/or health records must be provided. Anything less may be a death certificate in advance for the child. That's not at all fair. If you don't want your kid to know who you are later down the road, then don't provide the sperm necessary to conceive a child!
- Russ, Pasco USA, 01/04/2008 06:43
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Well yes, this information obviously did made a difference to Tom Ellis, and plenty of other donor-conceived people say similar things. They're almost all against secrecy and anonymity, even when they have little or no interest in knowing about their own donor. Anonymous donation is now banned in the UK and a few other countries.
His mother's reasons for disclosing aren't given, but I think it's wrong to assume that her disclosure was malicious.
- Ml, Manchester, UK, 31/03/2008 17:26
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Did this information really make any difference to Tom Ellis. And doesn't his mum sound like a spiteful, bitter, nasty woman.
- Dr Finlays Casebook, London, UK, 31/03/2008 14:35
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