The central register of reproductive donors

Children conceived by donated sperm or eggs in NSW and their birth parents are entitled to receive certain information about the donors.

Couples who want to conceive a child may need the assistance of reproductive technologies. Some of those technologies involve sperm or eggs that have been donated, or the implantation of embryos that have created from donated sperm and eggs.

Until recently, children who were conceived in NSW by means of donated sperm or eggs could not easily identify the donors. That made it difficult for them to understand their genetic heritage. It also deprived them of important information that would help them identify or rule out certain hereditary diseases that might trouble them.

The Assisted Reproductive Technology Act 2007 (NSW) made it possible for individuals to identify the donors who contributed the biological material that made their lives possible. The Act, which took effect in 2010, gives donors and donor offspring the opportunity to learn about themselves and each other.

Central Register

Certain Mandatory Information (as well as information voluntarily contributed if the donation took place before 2010) is stored in the Central Register. The information must be provided to the Central Register within two months after the live birth of a child who was conceived after 1 January 2010:

• using donated sperm,
• using donated eggs,
• using embryos made from donated sperm and eggs, or
• through surrogacy.
• The Central Register must be notified of the child’s name, sex, and date of birth.

Mandatory Information

In addition to registering the births of children who were born with the assistance of reproductive technology, the Central Register must be given specific information about the donors of sperms or eggs. That information includes:

• The donor’s name, date of birth, and place of birth.
• The donor’s ethnicity and physical characteristics.
• Any medical history or genetic test results of the donor or the donor’s family that are relevant to the child’s future health or to the health of that child’s future offspring.
• Any medical history or genetic test results of the donor that are relevant to the health of the woman giving birth using donated eggs or sperm.
• The sex and year of birth of other children who were conceived from the donation.
• The name of each additional person who received sperm or eggs from that donor and the date on which they were obtained.

Available information

The Mandatory Information described above will be available to any child who was conceived from donated sperm or eggs, but only after the child reaches the age of 18. Information about genetic siblings will be released only with the sibling’s consent.

Parents of a child born through donation are entitled to receive non-identifying medical information about the donor, as well as information about the donor’s physical characteristics and ethnicity.