The Australian state of Victoria is ending a program that helped donor-conceived individuals safely connect with their biological parents, causing concern among a population that has long been denied access to their genetic makeup and family health history.
As reported by The Guardian, in 2016, Victoria passed legislation that granted donor-conceived individuals 18 years and older the right to find their biological parents. It was meant to help those who are donor-conceived identify their donor — even if the donor wanted to remain anonymous.
The Victorian Assisted Reproductive Treatment Authority (Varta) aided them in doing so through required counseling, and a register containing information on 30,000 people across the state involved in donor conception. Varta helped to arrange face-to-face meetings with bio parents and children. Varta has been recognized internationally for its services. It was named the Best Fertility Service for “outstanding patient service in reproductive health” by the European Fertility Society, and has been held up as an example for other countries looking to create similar programs.
But new legislation would end the current offerings under Varta later this year.
In the proposed legislation, biological parents and children would connect through an online voluntary registry that is run by the Department of Health. Donor-conceived individuals would “match” with and communicate with their donors. Department of Health staff would reportedly be available to assist — but one donor-conceived individual says the new rules would “feel more like the wild west.”
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Steph, who used Varta and learned the identity of the man who fathered her and her brother, explained, “You just don’t know who the guy is on the other end. To feel like the neutral territory that we were going to have access to, to be able to meet at a safe location that is private — this is no longer on offer.”
She said that the support that was given by Varta was “what stopped this from being so overwhelming and so scary.”
“The donor-linking was the thing I held on to as a safety island in this complete chaos. To know there was a safe way to meet the donor that was a mutually agreed location and to have a counsellor there,” she added.
Dr. Damian Adams, who is donor-conceived, called the change a “retrograde step,” and said he is “sad” to see the change come about.
Fiona Kelly, a former board member of Varta, resigned when she saw the proposed changes. She explained that the nature of Victoria’s donor linking required “a sophisticated model of mandatory expert counselling,” and said she had witnessed “a number of complex donor cases where the donor had criminal convictions, severe mental issues, or sought to harm their offspring.”
She noted that the government wanted the board members to push all of the changes through, but they had “no idea” what they were talking about. She said the legislation seeks to “normalize” being donor-conceived. “[B]ut finding out you are donor conceived at 50 years old is not common. It is an enormous thing to be revealed to someone,” she said.
Despite the concerns expressed by donor-conceived individuals, a spokesperson for the Victoria government said the “reforms will not only better regulate the ART [assistive reproductive technology] — they will also ensure appropriate support and guidance continues to be provided to the many Victorians that use these services to create their families.”
