The Scope of Donor-Conceived Person’s Right to Access Information about the Gamete Donor in Europe – A Comparative Review

Legal regulations concerning infertility treatment differ among European jurisdictions. Broadly speaking, three types of gamete donation are distinguished – anonymous donation, identifiable donation, and known donation. However, using only these terms during a debate on international standard of gamete donation is a significant simplification. Even in those jurisdictions in which the same model of gamete donation occurs, the scope of information about a donor that is accessible for a child differs. Moreover, in some jurisdictions, the law permits donors and recipients to choose between two or more types of gamete donation. This paper therefore analyses the extent to which the donor’s data is accessible to a donor-conceived person within these different regimes. It argues that a balanced international standard for data exchange concerning gamete donation could be acceptable for all European countries. This paper concludes that it would be a positive first step to harmonise legal framework of gamete donation in Europe to reach a position that would be acceptable for countries in which donor’s anonymity is protected, as well as in countries in which the donor’s identity is always open for a donor conceived-person.