If you’re using donor eggs or donor sperm to have a baby, wouldn’t you want to give your child the choice in future to learn about their biological origins?
It’s for this reason why the law was changed in the first place over 10 years ago. Anonymous sperm and egg donation ceased in the UK in 2005. All new donors had to agree instead to be identifiable to any donor-conceived children born with their help.
It was a move designed to give donor-conceived people the right to find out their biological heritage. And it had huge implications for us at Manchester Fertility, and all other clinics that recruit their own egg and sperm donors in this country.
When the law changed, we had already started to put considerable investment into our counselling services. So we were prepared and ready to ensure all new sperm and egg donors with us could fully understand the implications of the law change for them personally, allowing them to proceed with confidence in their decision to donate.
Our emphasis on counselling and support for our donors is something we continue to focus on today. By ensuring our donors are informed and happy – at every stage of the process – we have no waiting list for treatment and can offer you UK donor sperm and eggs from people in this country who are altruistic, committed and genuinely want to help.
And as a donor-conceived person, isn’t this what you would want to hear? That your donor was a special and generous individual, who was kind enough to help people like your parents become a family. Who was prepared and willing to make his or her details available, so if you ever wanted to know, you could find out more about them.
Various surveys of donor-conceived adults over the years have shown that it means a great deal to understand where they came from, many believe they have a right to know who helped them to be born. But sadly in many countries anonymous donation is still allowed – so plenty of donor-conceived people will never have the opportunity to find out anything about their genetic history.
If you need to use donor sperm or donor eggs to have your child you do have a choice. You can choose to have treatment with an identifiable and traceable UK donor like we specialise in at Manchester Fertility, or you can choose to opt for an anonymous donor by having treatment in a foreign country where this is still allowed.
Many people do go abroad for treatment using anonymous egg or sperm donors, usually because it’s perceived as ‘cheaper’ than having treatment here in the UK. But knowing that your child won’t ever have access to details about half their genetic make-up is something that needs very careful consideration and could have implications for your child in future.
If you’re interested in treatment using donor eggs or donor sperm, book in for a one-to-one and have an informal chat with one of our Patient Advisors or call us on 0161 300 2737. They can answer any questions you may have about our donors and the quality of our donor sperm and eggs, and can get you started on your journey to a family.
Last updated: 20th January 2020
