AlphaMED Resources · https://alphamedicine.uk/Resources/cases/donor-anonymity
Donor anonymity and DNA tests
Sperm and egg donors who gave between 1991 and 2005 were promised anonymity. DNA tests now let relatives find donors who never agreed to be found, and the regulator wants identity released from birth.
- Donations from this date let the donor be identified at 18
- The first donor conceived people turn 18 and can ask for the donor's name
- HFEA proposes identity from birth and warnings about DNA tests
- HFEA says anonymity can no longer be assured
- Government tells the Lords it cannot reform the Act this session
Summary
- Donor conception is when a child is born from someone else's sperm, eggs or embryos. The question is who may learn the donor's identity, and when.
- Donations from 1 August 1991 to 31 March 2005 stay anonymous unless the donor chooses otherwise. From 1 April 2005 donors can be identified, and the child can get identifying details at 18.
- Donor conceived people want to know where they come from, while donors were promised privacy. The regulator now says that promise can no longer be assured.
- The first donor conceived people turned 18 in October 2023 and could ask for a donor's identity. The HFEA had said fewer than five of the around 30 due that year would be eligible in October.
- DNA tests have weakened the promise in practice. The HFEA warned in 2020 that matching is a clear threat to donor anonymity.
- In November 2023 the HFEA proposed removing donor anonymity from the birth of any child born from donation. In June 2026 the government told the Lords it was not able to pursue immediate legislative reform of the Act this session.
Dig deeper
- Peter Thompson, the HFEA's chief executive, said in May 2022 that cheap DNA tests threw the assumption of anonymity into question. He spoke of a position in the future where confidentiality just becomes impossible, whatever the attitude of families.
- The 2023 proposals would also require clinics to warn donors and recipients that DNA testing could reveal identity. Removing anonymity is conditional. Donors before 2005 keep it, and donors after 2005 do not lose it early.
- The report also considers releasing identifiable information after a child's birth, and whether a child who is Gillick competent should consent first.
- In a Lords debate on 4 June 2026, Baroness Deech called for a Select Committee and a draft Bill. The government replied that it was considering legislative options if parliamentary time allows.
- Mitochondrial donation follows different rules. The 2015 Regulations do not treat the mitochondrial donor as a parent, and the child can never learn who she is.
Ethical issues
| Principle | How it applies here |
|---|---|
| Autonomy | The donor chose under rules that promised anonymity. The child can seek identifying details only at 18, and parents cannot seek them, because the HFEA bars parents from identifying information. |
| Beneficence | Knowing the donor can help a donor conceived person understand their origins. The Manchester project calls online DNA testing a useful tool for the family, but tracing a donor does not guarantee a relationship. |
| Non maleficence | An unexpected match can harm people who never agreed to be found, including relatives who never took a test. A donor could be in for a rude awakening, and a donor conceived person may be left in turmoil if the reunion is not wanted. |
| Justice | Donors who gave before 2005 were promised anonymity, yet DNA matching threatens them too. The HFEA proposal would keep their anonymity, so the question is whether a child should wait until 18 while a relative's test can reveal the donor now. |
Interview questions
- What do you know about the rules that decide when a sperm or egg donor can be identified in the UK?
- What happened in October 2023, and why did it matter for donor conceived people?
- You are a GP. A 17 year old, conceived with donor sperm, asks how to find the donor on a DNA website. What do you tell them, and what do you advise them to think about first?
- What do you know about the case for keeping donor anonymity, and the case for identity from birth?
- What do you know about the HFEA's 2023 proposals, and which one would change the most for donors?
- What happened at the HFEA in 2020, when it warned about DNA tests, and what should a clinic tell donors now?
- What do you know about parents deciding whether to tell a child that they were donor conceived?
Sources
- hfea.gov.ukhfea.gov.uk/…/rules-around-releasing-donor-information
- hfea.gov.ukhfea.gov.uk/…/hfea-s-written-evidence-for-wec-inquiry-into-egg-donation-an
- hfea.gov.ukhfea.gov.uk/…/fresh-plea-from-uk-fertility-regulator-as-monumental-changes
- hfea.gov.ukhfea.gov.uk/…/dna-tests-are-the-christmas-gift-that-keeps-on-giving-but-un
- hfea.gov.ukhfea.gov.uk/…/modernising-fertility-law
- theyworkforyou.comtheyworkforyou.com/…/lords
- geneticsandsociety.orggeneticsandsociety.org/…/uk-fertility-watchdog-could-recommend-scrapping-donor-anonym
- legislation.gov.uklegislation.gov.uk/…/made
- sites.manchester.ac.uksites.manchester.ac.uk/…/case-studies-donor-conceived-community
Photo: Veverve, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons, colour altered.
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