My information: what can my donor-conceived offspring find out about me?
When donating at an HFEA licensed clinic, you are requested to provide details of yourself as a person. The details include:
- your ethnic group
- your marital status
- how many children you already have (if applicable) and the gender of those children
- your physical characteristics
- details of your screening tests and medical history
- a goodwill message to any potential children
- a description of yourself as a person.
The information is collected to help establish your suitability as a donor and in order to be passed onto any child born as a result of your donation.
This information is passed on to the HFEA by your clinic. We hold a record of those who donated at HFEA licensed fertility clinics since 1 August 1991 – the date the HFEA was set up – and onwards.
Who can access sperm, egg or embryo donor information?
People conceived as a result of a donation have a legal entitlement to apply to the HFEA for information about their origins. This information includes the details the donor provided at the clinic.
Patients seeking treatment with donor gametes and parents of donor-conceived children will also be able to access anonymous donor information.
Donor information is shared with parents and patients in order to help people be open with their children about their donor-conceived origins from an early age.
What information can my donor-conceived offspring receive?
When your donor-conceived offspring applies for information about their donor, what they receive depends on how much information you provided when donating.
It also depends on when the child was conceived – as laws surrounding information access have changed over the years.
Page last updated: 22 May 2012
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