We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
Identity Disclosure and Information Sharing in Donor Conception Regimes: The Unfulfilled Potential of Voluntary Registers.
- Authors
Millbank, Jenni
- Abstract
This article explores the scope and effectiveness of formal donor identity registers cur-rently in operation in assisted conception regimes in Australia and the UK. In particu-lar, it examines the function of voluntary registers which are intended to fill the gaps left by 'central' identity registers which mandate timed release of donor identity on re-quest of donor-conceived adults. There are three 'gaps' left by central registers identi-fied here: conceptions which took place prior to the operation of the relevant registers; parents and offspring who desire access to identifying information or a means of mak-ing contact prior to the age set for information release; and parents and offspring who desire information not available under current registers, specifically, identifying infor-mation or a means of making contact with other offspring from the same donor. The article reflects on interviews with a set of 21 parents who had undertaken donor con-ception in Australia through licensed IVF treatment concerning their understandings of disclosure regimes and wishes for, and experience of, seeking information and con-tact. Voluntary registers established by government bodies in Australia and the UK have largely failed to deliver benefits, and indeed may offer a misleading promise to users, because they have given rise to such a small proportion of matches. These regis-ters are 'passive' in that there is no outreach to parties not on the register to invite them to join when there is a match waiting there. However, voluntary registers could be reframed and resourced on a more facilitative basis to assist users. I propose that formal voluntary registers could be more usefully remade as 'active' registers, making contact with possible participants and offering intermediary services and counselling to establish and communicate expectations and to offer mediated contact, including contact without identity disclosure. Active voluntary registers could adapt current structures into a more flexible and responsive system capable of operating both pro-spectively and retrospectively. I contend that this is a better outcome than the current polarization between an inability to access information for many, on the one hand, and proposals such as retrospective identity disclosure without consent, on the other.
- Subjects
UNITED Kingdom; AUSTRALIA; HUMAN in vitro fertilization laws; HUMAN reproductive technology laws; LEGAL status of ovum donors; LEGAL status of sperm donors; INFORMATION sharing; DISCLOSURE laws; LAW
- Publication
International Journal of Law, Policy & the Family, 2014, Vol 28, Issue 3, p223
- ISSN
1360-9939
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1093/lawfam/ebu008