Conceived after 1 April 2005
The HFEA has a record of all births as a result of assisted conception from licensed UK fertility clinics from 1 August 1991 onwards. We record information on donors and on any person born as a result of their donation.
Any children born as a result of your donation have a legal right to find out about their genetic origins. They are entitled to contact the HFEA asking for information about their donor.
What information can my donor-conceived offspring receive?
From 1 April 2005 this is the information the HFEA collected from you at the time of donation:
- your physical description (height, weight, eye and hair colour)
- the year and country of your birth
- your ethnicity
- whether you had any children at the time of donation, how many and their gender
- your marital status
- your medical history
- a goodwill message to any potential children
- identifying information (your name, date of birth and last known address).
Donor-conceived people conceived after 1 April 2005, when they reach 16 years old, are able to apply to the HFEA to receive the non-identifying information that their donor provided (all information given by the donor except for their name and last-known address).
Donor-conceived people conceived after 1 April 2005, when they reach 18 years old are able to apply to the HFEA to find the information their donor provided, including identifying information.
Why are donors no longer automatically anonymous?
In 2005, the laws around donor information access changed. The law change meant that if you donated sperm or eggs after 1 April 2005 your are identifiable to anyone born as a result of your donation (once they are 18 years old).
Anonymity has been removed because it has been recognised by law that many donor-conceived people have a desire and interest in finding out about where they came from. Similarly, the interest donors have in finding out about children born from their donation has also been recognised.
Page last updated: 30 September 2009