HFEA decision regarding the disclosure of donor codes
20 March 2009
The HFEA decided that donor codes should no longer be disclosed to the parents of donor conceived people. The policy will come into effect immediately and will be subject to review.
We understand that there might be benefits as well as risks to releasing donor codes. However, the decision was made because during a review of our policies around donation, we became more aware of the potential for discrepancies and the possibility of misidentification. Because donor codes are not truly unique identifiers this may lead to the donor conceived people being linked to other donor conceived children who are not their biological siblings.
The Authority looked carefully at the implications before taking this decision. We fully understand the circumstances of the people this decision affects and a detailed paper presented at the meeting was discussed in some depth. However, in light of the issues raised and the introduction of the new Act in October 2009, the Authority felt it right to stop releasing of donor codes pending further consideration.
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HFEA Press Office
Tel: 020 7291 8226
Email: press.office@hfea.gov.uk
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Page last updated: 13 April 2009
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