Law Reform Committee Inquiry into Access by Donor-Conceived People to Information about Donors March 2012 Inquiry into Access by Donor-Conceived People to Information about Donors Report of the Law Reform Committee for the Inquiry into Access by Donor-Conceived People to Information about Donors ORDERED TO BE PRINTED Victorian Government Printer Parliamentary Paper No. 120, Session 2010-2012 iii Parliament of Victoria Law Reform Committee Inquiry into Access by Donor-Conceived People to Information about Donors – Final report ISBN – 978-0-9807201-6-7 This report is printed on recycled paper. This report is also available at www.parliament.vic.gov.au/lawreform iv Committee Members This Inquiry was conducted during the term of the 57th Parliament. The members of the Law Reform Committee are: Mr Clem Newton-Brown, MP (Chair) Ms Jane Garrett, MP (Deputy Chair) Mr Anthony Carbines, MP Mr Russell Northe, MP Mrs Donna Petrovich, MLC Staff For this Inquiry, the Committee was supported by a secretariat comprising: Executive Officer: Dr Vaughn Koops Research Officer: Ms Amie Gordon Research Officer: Ms Vathani Shivanandan Administrative Officer: Ms Helen Ross-Soden v vi The Law Reform Committee The Victorian Parliament Law Reform Committee is constituted under the Parliamentary Committees Act 2003, as amended. The Committee comprises five members of Parliament drawn from both houses and all parties. The functions of the Law Reform Committee are, if so required or permitted under this Act, to inquire into, consider and report to the Parliament on any proposal, matter or thing concerned with — a) legal, constitutional or parliamentary reform b) the administration of justice c) law reform. Committee Address Address: Parliament of Victoria Spring Street EAST MELBOURNE VIC 3002 Telephone: (03) 8682 2851 Facsimile: (03) 8682 2818 Email: [email protected] Internet: http://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/lawreform vii viii Terms of Reference Referred by the Legislative Assembly on 10 February 2011. That under s 33 of the Parliamentary Committees Act 2003, the Law Reform Committee is required to inquire into, consider and report no later than 30 June 2012 on donor-conceived persons and, further to the interim report of the Law Reform Committee of the 56th Parliament, the Committee is asked to consider: a) the legal, practical and other issues that would arise if all donor-conceived people were given access to identifying information about their donors and their donor-conceived siblings, regardless of the date that the donation was made; b) the relevance of a donor's consent or otherwise to the release of identifying information and the National Health and Medical Research Council's ethical guidelines on the use of assisted reproductive technology in clinical practice and research; c) any practical difficulties in releasing information about donors who provided their gametes before 1 July 1988, because in many cases records are not available either because the procedure was carried out privately or records were not stored centrally; d) the options for implementing any changes to the current arrangements, including non-legislative options; e) the impact that any such changes may have on the donor, the donor-conceived person and future donor programs; f) the impacts of the transfer of the donor registers currently held by the Infertility Treatment Authority to the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages; and g) the possible implications under the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006. ix x Table of Contents Committee Members................................................................................................. v The Law Reform Committee................................................................................... vii Terms of Reference.................................................................................................. ix List of Tables........................................................................................................... xv List of Figures ......................................................................................................... xv List of Case Studies................................................................................................ xv Chair’s Foreword................................................................................................... xvii Executive Summary............................................................................................... xix Table of Recommendations ................................................................................. xxv Table of Findings ................................................................................................. xxix Glossary................................................................................................................ xxxi Chapter One: Introduction ...................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background.................................................................................................. 1 1.1.1 What is assisted reproduction? ....................................................... 2 1.1.2 Numbers of donor-conceived people and donors............................ 3 1.1.3 Donor-conceived people’s awareness of the manner of their conception....................................................................................... 4 1.2 Context of the Inquiry................................................................................... 6 1.2.1 Victorian Law Reform Commission Report...................................... 6 1.2.2 Australian Senate Committee Report .............................................. 6 1.2.3 Law Reform Committee Interim Report ........................................... 7 1.3 Inquiry process ............................................................................................ 8 1.4 Outline of the Report.................................................................................... 9 Chapter Two: A history of donor-conception in Victoria .................................... 11 2.1 The origins of assisted reproductive treatment in Victoria ......................... 12 2.2 Regulation of assisted reproductive treatment........................................... 13 2.2.1 The Waller Committee................................................................... 14 2.2.2 Infertility (Medical Procedures) Act 1984....................................... 16 2.2.3 Infertility Treatment Act 1995......................................................... 16 2.2.4 Assisted Reproductive Treatment Act 2008 .................................. 19 2.2.5 National Health and Medical Research Council Ethical Guidelines ..................................................................................... 21 2.2.6 Australian Senate Committee Report on donor-conception practices in Australia ..................................................................... 22 2.2.7 Reference to the Law Reform Committee ..................................... 23 2.2.8 Debates surrounding access to identifying information ................. 24 2.3 Donor-conception practices ....................................................................... 26 2.3.1 Donor-conception practices before 1988....................................... 26 2.3.2 Practices after the introduction of the Infertility (Medical Procedures) Act 1984 (1988-1997)............................................... 31 2.3.3 Practices after the introduction of the Infertility Treatment Act 1995 (1998 - present).................................................................... 33 Chapter Three: Access by donor-conceived people to information about donors...................................................................................................................... 37 3.1 The experience of donor-conceived people who seek donor information................................................................................................. 37 3.2 Current access to information.................................................................... 42 3.2.1 The donor registers ....................................................................... 42 3.2.2 Pre-1988 donor-conceived people ................................................ 45 3.2.3 1988 to 1997 donor-conceived people .......................................... 49 3.2.4 Post-1998 donor-conceived people............................................... 49 3.3 Considerations around the retrospective release of information................ 51 xi Inquiry into Access by Donor-Conceived People to Information about Donors 3.3.1 Non-legislative means for providing access to information ........... 51 3.3.2 The donor-conceived person’s ‘right’ to know ............................... 52 3.3.3 Donors’ right to privacy.................................................................. 66 3.3.4 Weighing rights and interests ........................................................ 73 3.4 Proposals for change................................................................................. 76 3.4.1 Counselling and donor-linking requirements ................................. 77 3.4.2 Contact vetoes............................................................................... 78 3.4.3 Contact preference form................................................................ 82 3.4.4 Transition period............................................................................ 82 3.4.5 Access to non-identifying information...........................................