As new rules regarding egg and sperm donations take effect in a win for the rights of donor-conceived children, France has begun the process of destroying tens of thousands of older donations.
EuroWeekly reported that the bioethics reforms, passed in 2021, are now in place. This means every donor-conceived person born in 2022 or later will be able to find out information about their biological parents once they turn 18. If requested, they will be given their parent’s name, age, appearance, health status, profession, family situation, and any other available information. Yet out of the 701 adults who have contacted the official commission between 2022 and 2025, only 73 have thus far received any information.
But for now, under the new rules, old sperm donations will be thrown out. “Today marks the deadline for basically all of the older sperm in France that was given anonymously,” journalist Solange Mougin said on France24. “It’ll now be trashed and thrown out as it can no longer be given to women who are on the waiting list. And that waiting list is a very long one.”
While egg donations had been given anonymously as well in the past, there is no remaining stock of eggs, as they have all been used. There are also frozen embryos that were going to be destroyed, but after pushback, the French government allowed the embryos to remain.
“But as for the sperm, there are thousands of vials that will now be binned or trashed,” Mougin continued. “[T]he move is part of a phasing out of anonymous donations in France, which had been in place since the first sperm banks were created here in 1973. And essentially, the rules have changed, and these new rules are now going to be applied starting now.”
This change is being applauded by donor-conceived children, who have increasingly fought against adult-centered practices in the fertility industry as they came of age.
“It presents a constant question mark in my mind, one that’s been there since my conception,” one donor-conceived adult told France24. “I know the sperm donor is part of me, but I don’t know what he passed on. The little game everyone plays with their parents is to know, hey, I take after dad in this way. The question remains unanswered for me. My father was able to transmit through his presence through nurture, but in regard to nature, what did my donor transmit?”
Elodie Bougeard, president of PMAnonyme – an organization dedicated to advocating for donor-conceived persons – likewise said this decision was long overdue. “It’s a victory we’ve fought for,” she said. “Knowing where you come from, understanding your medical background — it’s not a luxury, it’s a right.”
