From a very young age, Gold Coast woman Sarah Norrie began noticing that she “didn’t quite fit” the picture.
Key points:
- Proposed reforms will allow donor-conceived people to find their donor through a centralised register
- Advocates say it is long overdue, with donor-conceived people facing historical legal and social disadvantages
- A push for a national register remains ongoing, with advocates calling it a “no-brainer”
“I never looked like anyone in my family,” she said.
From the age of eight, Ms Norrie started asking her parents whether she was adopted, but the prospect of being donor-conceived “wasn’t something that ever crossed my radar”.
When her parents told her on her 18th birthday Ms Norrie was initially upset.
“He [her father] is such an amazing person and I was really sad, upset that I wasn’t half of him,” she said.
“Now that I’m older I realise that I am half of him because of the way he raised me.”
But it took Ms Norrie a decade to find her donor, something she hoped a proposed overhaul of Queensland’s donor conception laws could change.
Push for centralised register
The state government in February announced in-principle support for the findings of the Legal Affairs and Safety Committee’s inquiry into donor conception information laws.
The parliamentary inquiry recommended people who were donor-conceived be given the legal right to know the identity of their donors and siblings, at the age of 18, through a centralised, government-held register.
Victoria, Western Australia and New South Wales already have similar laws in place.
“Allowing donor-conceived people to access their genetic origins will enhance their wellbeing and allow them to manage their health appropriately,” Queensland Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman said last week.
Donor-Conceived Australia national director Aimee Shackleton said many donor-conceived people had to trace their genetic history through individual clinics that might “not be there in the future”.
“To just know why you have blue eyes, why they have curly hair, to know your background about what country you ancestors come from,” she said.
“The risk of illnesses like heart disease and high blood pressure, if known earlier in life, people can make lifestyle changes to make sure that their risk for developing these illnesses are lower.”
A ‘bizarre’ but positive experience
Ms Norrie joined a social media group for donor-conceived people and took a DNA test, eventually tracking down a sibling.
“We just sat their looking at each other,” she said.
“It was just bizarre to see someone who had the same eyes or nose shape as you.
“Talking a lot about our own childhood experiences, how we had similarities and differences and a lot of that nature versus nurture conversation.
“Our personality traits were quite similar.”
She found her donor about 12 months later and also traced down more than 20 siblings.
“It was a very positive experience overall and I know not everyone has that and how lucky I am,” Ms Norrie said.
“For them to be able to have that experience, I think, is a great move forward.”
National approach a ‘no-brainer’
Prior to 2004, anonymous gamete donations were permitted in Queensland.
Clinics have since been required to obtain the donor’s consent to share identifying information once the donor-conceived person turned 18.
Ms Shackleton said donor-conceived people had been disadvantaged by laws and attitudes over time.
“Often parents were told that it would damage their child irreparably if they were told they were donor-conceived so it was better to keep it a secret,” she said.
“So there are still many adult donor-conceived people who are out there that don’t know.”
A 2011 federal inquiry recommended establishing a national register, with many donor conceived people struggling to trace records between states.
“We feel it’s a no-brainer,” Ms Shackleton said.
“We’re constantly working with the federal government in hoping they can consider reviving some of those recommendations.”
The Fertility Society of Australia and New Zealand has supported a national register that president Professor Luk Rombauts said “would monitor the number of families created from the same donor, guide and inform potential recipients of sperm donations, and support donor conceived offspring with knowledge of their biological heritage”.
A spokesperson for Federal Assistant Health Minister Ged Kearney declined to comment.