What would be the process for identifying egg and sperm donors on the birth certificate?

Question

I am in the backwards country of America - where adoptees don't have universal rights to know their origins.

Now our technology has surpassed our ethical capabilies and women can be impregnated with fertilized eggs of younger women. The anomomity of sperm and egg donation doesn't even seem to be questioned. We are creating an unknown number of children who may not even be related to one or both of their "parents."

What is the process for altering this practice?

Answer 1

This is a great question to be honest!!

In my opionin there should be a place on the birth certificate that Identifies the sperm donor and the egg donors..

That would be the right thing to do in my thinking!!

Right!!

Answer 2

I just did a show on this for the Adoption Show, and I interviewed a young girl in Texas looking for her sperm donor father. Her mother was her biological mother, and had used a sperm donor to conceive.

She has written over 500 possible fathers who were all attending the college her father was attending when she was conceived. Many, then (and probably still now) used the donor clinic as a way to help pay for bills.

Anyways, during the interview she was telling me how in the UK right now there is a bill pending that is looking good for passing that would require all birth certificates of donor conceived people to have a donor conceived stamp on them. So the child and one day adult, will always be aware of their conception and how it came to be.

This is supported by the donor conceived people there, and seems to be a positive step for their rights and equality.

I find it interesting that they're already honoring the rights of the donor conceived and the US hasn't even made it to the steps of honoring the adoptees. The adoptees have had open records in the Uk for quite a few years now. I think 1975? I could be wrong on that but I believe its somewhere close to that time. Here they are giving the donor conceived rights to their records, and information of conception, and the United States is in the dust not even honoring the rights of adoptees yet.

In Scotland, adoptee records have been open since 1935, in England since 1975. New Zealand, Norway, Finland, Israel, Mexico, Argentina, and parts of Australia are only a few of the many nations which do not prevent adult adoptees from accessing their own birth records.

Thats just crazy to think about.

Answer 3

biological donor with the male and female signs next to each.

Answer 4

Wow - this question really gets the gears turning! I don't have any experience with this sort of thing at all, but it really makes me think.........

Now, I personally believe that everyone should have access to their full medical history and genetic background, definitely. But would including a donor on an actual birth certificate somehow make the donor legally responsible for the child? I remember hearing on the news last year that there was a case in which a L*****n couple with a child had split up, and the mother who retained custody of the child was trying to sue the sperm donor for child support. I don't know how the situation turned out, but I expect that if the donor's full name had been on the official birth certificate, then he would have a legal obligation to the child, wouldn’t he?

I wonder if there would be (or maybe there already is, I really don’t know) some kind of special identifying process for donors, which would keep the parents legally responsible while still providing the donor’s information. Maybe a file is kept so that the parents, and later the child, would always have access to the needed information?

I guess that would be my best suggestion for altering this practice of donor anonymity - legislation that would force the clinics to keep adequate records available to the receiving family until the time that the parents, or child, or both come looking for information. It might also be a good idea to have the clinic transfer the information directly to the family’s physician, (you know, the same way that medical records are transferred from doctor to doctor without ever being permitted to fall into the patient’s hands). That would ensure that the records couldn’t “disappear” in the case of an unethical set of parents.

I don’t know, like I said I don’t have any experience with this, but I wanted to share some of the thoughts that your question  inspired.

Answer 5

Honestly I think birth certificates should have all names on it.  The natural parents names, the adoptees name, and the adoptive parents names.  This includes donor egg/sperm.  There should be no anonymonity in this.  We are all ultimately responsible to our children.

Answer 6

Isn't this just HORRIFYING? Am I the only one who feels what a tragedy of EPIC proportions this 'brave new world' will be in 15 years?  Will tomorrow's teens & singles need to have a DNA scan done before dating to ensure they aren't closely related?  Maybe they can carry a DNA profile card. Hey, it just may create a whole new & profitable industry!  After all, isn't that what it's all about? The mighty $$$!!  

Not only has technology surpassed our ethical capabilities, it  has surpassed our rational, logical thought processes! Our ability to think at all, it seems.  FGS, ppl! How is it that NO ONE seems to see the huge TRAIN WRECK this little social experiment is?  The "ME" generation run amock...to the extreme.  I can understand egg donors from your own family.

The process for ID'ing donors on a birth certificate might include ID numbers that reference their biological "data" (at a data bank).  Wouldn't it be nice if these children can one day have access to their biological &  medical information as well as their heritage with out feeling like they're violating state laws?

ETA: I recently read the term "gestational carrier" for the first time; a term used to identify the woman who carries an embryo created with a donated egg & sperm. Wow...now we have "gestational carriers".  "No, I don't have a 'birth' mother, actually. I had a gestational carrier." Hmmmm

ETA:  Just because we can doesn't necessarily mean we should!  IMHO

Answer 7

Where I live, if the mother is implanted with embryos made with either donor egg or sperm or both, she and her husband are put as the parents on the birth certificate as if they are the biological parents, and no mention of donors.  Sick, huh?

If it's a single woman who used a sperm donor to impregnate herself by artificial insemination, then under the father's name it will just say "donor".

If a surrogate is used, the intended parents adopt and the records are sealed just like for a regular adoption.

One can only hope that the parents will be honest with the child about his/her origins, but I'm certain that there are many who won't for various reasons.  

What is this world coming to?  The infertility industry is another place where there needs to be huge reform and ethical issues addressed.