Episode 12 - Disclosure of Donor Identities I Legal Frameworks in Various Countries

Hello and welcome to 'My Donor Egg IVF Journey – Raw + In Real Time'.   

I am Claudine, your podcast host. I want to share my Donor Egg IVF journey via my podcast in the hope that my experience will help others.  This is our safe holding space. If you haven’t already listened to Episode 1, my introduction, please do so.   

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In this episode, episode 12 of my podcast, I will discuss Legal Frameworks in various countries, in regards to the disclosure of donor identities. 

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Claudine Xx 

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Transcript

0:03

Welcome to my donor egg IVF Journey Raw and in real time. I'm Claudine, your podcast host. I want to share my donor egg IVF journey via my podcast in the hope that my experience will help you and others. This is your safe holding space, created with a heart-centered approach, a place to land to share all things related to donor egg conception. I want you to feel safe, supported, and informed during our shared journey. Now, let's start today's episode. If you haven't already listened to episode one of my podcasts, please do. You can listen to my journey in chronological order, thereby my episodes in the order that they're released. Alternatively, you can choose the episodes that appeal to you. The most via their titles. The initial episodes of this podcast will get you up to speed and from thereafter, I'll update you in real time. Please pay attention to the disclaimer at the end of the show notes of this episode by continuing to listen to this podcast. You understand and agree to that disclaimer in its entirety. Now today's date is Monday the 10th of March, 2025. So in my last episode, that's episode 11 of my podcast, I discussed anonymous versus non-anonymous donors, and I mentioned that the topic would be split over two episodes. So in that last episode, episode 11, I covered the definition of anonymous versus non-anonymous. As well as some disadvantages, um, and advantages of each. So in today's episode, that's episode 12 of my podcast. I'll cover legal frameworks in various countries, uh, in regards to the disclosure of donor identities. Now we will delve into anonymous, non-anonymous, as well as open contact and non-contact. I also plan to cover what we chose in terms of donor anonymity. So that's my partner and I, um, and why, as well as feedback from real people supporting the reasons behind their decisions. So my apologies, I need to change that slightly. Um, that part I'll cover in my next episode. So that's episode 13. Please note that I gathered the following information from the internet. So based on that, I do recommend that you do your own research if you have further interest in this subject. Um, additionally, any references that I make to donors are in reference to egg donors is. Okay, so let's start off with Russia. So, in prior episodes I shared that I'll be undergoing donor egg IVF with the Russian fertility clinic. that's why I decided to cover Russia first. So my clinic's donor profiles, contained images of donors, um, both as children and adults. And, um, thereby because they provide those photos, the donors cannot be categorized as anonymous. However, each donor profile on their database is noted as either non contactable or open. So non-contact means that donor identities will not be released. Open means that donor identities are to be released only to the child upon request of the child when the child is 18 years of age. So in some countries, open contact donors are referred to as ID release donors and non-contact able donors are referred to as non ID release donors. My Russian IVF clinic also operates from a clinic in South Cypress, so their donor database is a combined donor database for both Russia and South Cyprus. Now let's move on to South Cyprus. South Cyprus is an independent republic, so they are part of the European, European Union, excuse me, eu. Whereas North Cyprus is under Turkish control. That affects IVF clinic regulations between the north and the south of Cyprus. So the EU does not have an overall law on donor anonymity, meaning that each member state can have its own regulations within its own legal framework. Now we'll move on to the Czech Republic, Italy, Spain, South Africa, north Cyprus, and Mexico. So only anonymous donations are allowed in those countries. The next is Australia, France, the Netherlands, and Portugal. In those countries, anonymous donations are not allowed. Now in Australia, donor identities are to be released when the child is 18 years of age, except in the state of Western Australia. So in that state, donor identities are to be released when the child is 16 years of age. In New Zealand, France, Portugal, and the Netherlands donor identities are to be released when the child is 18 years of age. Now the uk So as per legislation changes introduced to the UK in 2005, uh, donor identities are to be released upon request when the child is 18 years of age. However, for donations pre 1st of April, 2005, donor identities are to remain anonymous. The next is Greece. So. In Greece, egg donation was previously anonymous. However, as per legislation changes introduced to Greece in 2024, anonymous donations are allowed. If the donor and recipient selects non-anonymous donor identities are to be released upon request when the child is 18 years of age. So it's my understanding that there's currently a limited availability of non-anonymous donors in Greece. But don't forget this new law was only introduced last year. Now we move on to Canada, Denmark, and Japan. So in those countries, both anonymous and non-anonymous donations are allowed. So in Canada and Denmark. If the donor and recipient selected non-anonymous donor identities are to be released upon request when the child is 18 years of age. So in Japan, there's no specific law mandating the release of donor egg identities. However, the general practice is that donor conceived children can access information about their genetic background and potentially including the donor's identity once they reach 18 years of age. The next is the USA. In the USA, there is no federal law that mandates donor anonymity or disclosure, meaning that each state can have its own regulations. While some clinics maintain anonymity, there's a growing movement towards more open donation where the donor and recipient may have some level of contact or where the donor's identity can be disclosed to the child later in life. The American Society for Reproductive Medicine, that's A SRM, encourages disclosure to the donor conceived child. There are some exceptions in some countries, so in some countries, the only exception to what I've discussed today is in cases of severe genetically transmissible illness, uh, where the donor identity may be revealed in special circumstances for health reasons. Okay, so that wraps up today's episode. Now, please tune into the next episode of this podcast where I will discuss what my partner and I chose in terms of donor anonymity and why, as well as feedback from real people supporting the reasons behind their decisions. Thank you for sharing your time with me. From my heart to yours, sending healing energy to all of my listeners.