Dear Mr Iemma,
We congratulate the New South Wales Government for putting forward the Assisted Reproductive Technology Bill (2003). In particular we applaud the Government for including a central register to collect future records and give future donor offspring the right to know the identity of their donor.

Unfortunately, for every person already conceived using donated sperm eggs or embryos in this state the legislation sadly provides nothing.

To address the concerns of established families we feel that the following inclusions into the legislation are imperative:

• A voluntary register must be included (as it is in the Victorian Infertility Treatment Act 1995). This is necessary so that my children can have the same right to know their identity as all other NSW residents.
• All donor conception records that are placed on the central or voluntary register must be kept permanently. These records are as important as birth certificates to those concerned. Infertility practitioners that cease to perform donor conception should forward all their records to the registers.
• Counselling for both recipients entering into donor conception programs and for donors must be mandatory (as in Victoria). Donor conception is different from other infertility treatments in that the use of a third party (usually unknown) to be a biological parent to a child has far reaching consequences that are not often realised by people embarking on their quest for a child. Counselling should also be available later when contact is trying to be made between parents/offspring and donors.

We are asking that the NSW Government make these vitally important changes to the Draft Bill.

Who will provide the answers to the thousands of donor conceived people in this state when they ask the questions, “Where do I come from and where are my donor’s records?”

Yours Sincerely,

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