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Donor-conceived children It's time to ban anonymous sperm donation

Recent studies on donor-conceived children reveal that an overwhelming number of such individuals want information relating to their donor, writes Dr Brian Tobin.

THE CHILDREN AND Family Relationships Act was signed into law by the President, Michael D Higgins, in April 2015, yet over three years later Parts 2 and 3 have not been commenced.

The government’s failure to do so means that the provisions of the 2015 Act that prohibit anonymous donor sperm from being used in Irish fertility clinics are not yet in force. Further, the National Donor-Conceived Person Register proposed by the 2015 Act to protect the donor-conceived child’s right to knowledge of genetic identity has not been set up.

The register would record the identifying details of the child’s donor, such as his name, date and place of birth, nationality and contact details, and such information would be made available to the child upon reaching the age of 18.

Information about donor

The upshot of the government’s ongoing inactivity in this area is that Irish fertility clinics can continue to use anonymous donor sperm imported from abroad to help their clients to conceive a baby and, upon reaching adulthood, that donor-conceived person will never be able to access any information about their donor.

This is unacceptable in a country where the people voted to insert express protection for children’s rights into the Constitution in 2012. Under Article 42A, the State affirms the ‘natural and imprescriptible’ rights of the child and promises, by its laws, ‘to protect and vindicate those rights.’

One imagines the right to knowledge of one’s genetic parentage, something so fundamental to each individual, must surely constitute one of the ‘natural and imprescriptible’ rights of the child. It is arguably a corollary of the child’s right to know its natural mother as enunciated by the Supreme Court in 1998.

Genetic identity

By failing to commence Parts 2 and 3 of the 2015 Act, how is the State ‘by its laws’ protecting and vindicating this constitutional right for all children who are donor-conceived?

Both the Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights have long-since recognised the importance to a child of accessing information about their genetic identity. Indeed, as far back as 2005, the Report of the Commission on Assisted Human Reproduction recommended to the Oireachtas that all Irish donor-conceived children should, on maturity, ‘be able to identify the donors involved’.

Recent studies on donor-conceived children reveal that an overwhelming number of such individuals want information relating to their donor; there is also growing international evidence that identifying information about one’s genetic parentage can be essential to the mental health of donor-conceived persons.

This is why countries like the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Finland, New Zealand and the UK prohibit anonymous sperm donation.

Mixed views

Irish fertility experts have mixed views on the proposed ban on anonymous donor sperm contained in the 2015 Act, with some clinicians for, and others staunchly against.

Some clinicians choose to ignore the phenomenon of children’s rights, and would prefer that their adult clients retain the right to use anonymous donor sperm to conceive a child – of course they would adopt such a position – assisted human reproduction is big business for the private fertility clinics and they do not want any potential clients deterred.

In addition, if Parts 2 and 3 of the 2015 Act were enacted, such clinics would have to radically alter their practice and start importing sperm from those countries that respect the child’s right to genetic identity by only permitting the non-anonymous donation of sperm. At present, the vast majority of sperm used in procedures that take place in Irish fertility clinics is imported from countries where there is anonymous donation, ie Spain.

However, forcing the fertility clinics to adapt their practice is far more acceptable than that clinical practice which is currently allowed – the creation of children who will never be able to know who their genetic parents are.

‘Transition period’

In March 2015, the then Minister for Justice and Equality, Frances Fitzgerald, together with the then Minister for Health, Leo Varadkar, assured the Dáil that Parts 2 and 3 of the 2015 Act would not be commenced for a ‘transition period’ of one year to ‘give clinics time to prepare for the new regulatory framework.’

This dispensation was understandable. However, it is now over three years later and private enterprise has been indulged at the expense of children’s rights for long enough. The commencement of Parts 2 and 3 of the 2015 Act is the responsibility of the current Minister for Health, Simon Harris, and it must occur as soon as possible.

Perhaps the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Katherine Zappone, who is currently and admirably attempting to champion the rights of adopted children in the context of identity rights, can spare a thought for donor-conceived children and finally spur her colleague into action?

Dr Brian Tobin is a Lecturer in Law at NUI Galway.

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    Mute Brian McDonnell
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    Jun 26th 2018, 7:22 AM

    Would anyone now donate knowing that in 18 years time you could get THAT knock on the door? No use having laws about donations, if no one is donating.

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    Mute niamh ryan
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    Jun 26th 2018, 7:40 AM

    @Brian McDonnell: was just thinking that myself. Men who donate sperm are helping people who can not. They are not assuming parentage. While the child obviously has a right to know general details, family history/illnesses ect contact details I would think would be a step to far for most

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    Mute Mary King
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    Jun 26th 2018, 7:46 AM

    @niamh ryan:
    Surely by donating sperm a person realises that it will be used for fertilisation ie they will be the biological father, the child surely has the right to know their genetic profile ???

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    Mute Brian McDonnell
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    Jun 26th 2018, 7:57 AM

    @Mary King: When they changed the law in the UK, there was a massive fall off in donors, one leading fertility clinic now only has 9 donors on there books where they need at least 200, they now import from Denmark where anonymity is guaranteed.

    “Other sperm bank executives see the removal of anonymity from the legislation as the chief cause of the decrease in donation. “[the changes] have decimated our sperm donation programme…It had a devastating impact”, said Prof Charles Kingsland, founder of the Hewitt Fertility Centre in Liverpool Women’s Hospital. Kingsland’s sperm bank needs another 200 donors to keep up with demand.”
    .

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    Mute Aine O Connor
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    Jun 26th 2018, 8:09 AM

    @Brian McDonnell:
    The rights of the child are paramount. When that child is an adult he or she may want to know who their biological parent is and may spend years trying to find out.
    It is a basic human right and need to know where one came from .
    It is not about a desire for adults to have children.

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    Mute Michael O'Neill
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    Jun 26th 2018, 8:16 AM

    @Aine O Connor: In that case the child won’t exist. In the examples above you can see the affect this had in other countries. People stop donating.
    So these non existant children have great rights.

    If you were one of these kids that had been conceived using anonymous doner sperm and you were asked, you can have full details about your biological father but there’s a 60% chance that you won’t exist, what would you expect the answer to be?

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    Mute Quentin Moriarty
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    Jun 26th 2018, 8:23 AM

    @Michael O’Neill: Donations on an altruistic ideal or more of an egoistic ideal ?

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    Mute Mary King
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    Jun 26th 2018, 8:27 AM

    @Brian McDonnell:
    That reaction from ‘sperm bank executives’ says it all so, they are in the business of making profits and presumably feel no responsibility towards the future children who will have no knowledge of their genetic heritage.

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    Mute Aine O Connor
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    Jun 26th 2018, 8:30 AM

    @Michael O’Neill:
    If I don’t exist I won’t be suffering and searching. There is the Option of adoption if one wants to give a child parents and a home.

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    Mute Fergus Sheahan
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    Jun 26th 2018, 8:31 AM

    @Michael O’Neill: i don’t see how anyone can argue with that, all these children really need to know is if they predisposed to medical conditions other than that it has to stay anonymous to keep donations up

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    Mute Fergus Sheahan
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    Jun 26th 2018, 8:35 AM

    @Aine O Connor: do you realise that adoption is a very drawn out process and if often fruitless? The amount of parent wanting to adopt children far outweighs the number of children available

    52
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    Mute Michael O'Neill
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    Jun 26th 2018, 8:54 AM

    @Aine O Connor: If it was me (and it’s not). I’d prefer to exist and have some suffering than never to have existed at all. I’d have thought that’d be a majority opinion but then I only know mine :)

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    Mute Patrick J. O'Rourke
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    Jun 26th 2018, 9:37 AM

    @Aine O Connor: Maybe if that is a basic human right then they need to be aware that they might have hundreds of half siblings depending on the operating policies of the sperm bank. That would be enough to wreck anyone’s head.

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    Mute niamh ryan
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    Jun 26th 2018, 1:02 PM

    @Mary King: of course they have every right to know their genetic profile. As I said they should. Being able to knock on someone’s door 20 years later and say hi dad is a completely different story. Donating sperm is akin to donating blood. You are doing a good turn to help someone’s who needs it. You are not choosing to become a father. Annominity should be a right of the donar always

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    Mute Mark Lyndon
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    Jun 27th 2018, 8:39 PM

    @Brian McDonnell:

    “When they changed the law in the UK, there was a massive fall off in donors, one leading fertility clinic now only has 9 donors on there books where they need at least 200, they now import from Denmark where anonymity is guaranteed.”

    That simply didn’t happen though. According to HFEA figures, the numbers of UK sperm donors went *up* eight years in a row following the ending of anonymity, thus reversing a three year decline. The 631 donors in 2012 was the highest figure since they started keeping records, and well over double the figure in 2004 (239) just before anonymity ended.

    I don’t have a huge problem with sperm donors being paid, or the numbers of children per donor being increased, but we should never go back to the days of anonymous donors. The donor-conceived are the ones who matter in this, not the parents, not the clinics, and not the donors.

    If a sperm donor wants to be anonymous, then he simply shouldn’t be a sperm donor. I was a sperm donor over 30 years ago, and if I have any genetic children looking for me, I’ve made it as easy as possible for them to find me. Over a thousand other donors have registered at the Donor Sibling Registry and the UK Donor Conceived Register.

    Some “anonymous” donors have been identified using DNA and genealogical databases, so it`s no longer possible for anyone to guarantee a donor that they will remain anonymous anyway.

    Sperm from anonymous donors can no longer be imported into the UK btw.

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    Mute ianglen
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    Jun 26th 2018, 7:08 AM

    Also a case of how many of these children could possibly be marrying and having children with a sibling in the future..

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    Mute Ciara Ni Mhurchu
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    Jun 26th 2018, 7:14 AM

    @ianglen: the same as adopted people or as long as men have sex really. Women tend to know they’ve had a baby. Many men don’t know they got a woman pregnant.

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    Mute Joe Mc
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    Jun 26th 2018, 7:18 AM

    @Ciara Ni Mhurchu: yeah blame the man. It takes 2 people to have sex

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    Mute Aine O Connor
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    Jun 26th 2018, 8:02 AM

    @Ciara Ni Mhurchu:
    Women tend to know who they had sex with too so therefore have a fair idea who the Gather is. DNA test will provide proof.

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    Mute Aine O Connor
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    Jun 26th 2018, 8:03 AM

    @Aine O Connor: Father is

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    Mute Ciara Ni Mhurchu
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    Jun 26th 2018, 10:35 AM

    @Aine O Connor: A DNA test isn’t any use if it was a one night stand or if he left the woman.

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    Mute Ciara Ni Mhurchu
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    Jun 26th 2018, 10:36 AM

    @Joe Mc: And yet still many men don’t know they got a woman pregnant.

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    Mute Bríd Gallagher
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    Dec 21st 2018, 12:09 AM

    @Joe Mc: That’s not relevant to what she said!

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    Mute Noirin Kavanagh
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    Jun 26th 2018, 8:32 AM

    Surely if the issue is genetic information then a full medical profile can be given while maintaining the anonymity of the donor?

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    Mute Mark Lyndon
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    Jun 27th 2018, 8:45 PM

    @Noirin Kavanagh: Why should the donor remain anonymous though? This isn’t just about medical information, but about donor-conceived people knowing who their genetic parents are.

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    Mute Phil O' Meara
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    Jun 26th 2018, 7:37 AM

    Aren’t eggs also donated? Is this anonymous?

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    Mute Blah blah
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    Jun 26th 2018, 8:31 AM

    @Phil O’ Meara: yes donor egg is anonymous but slightly different than sperm donation.
    With egg donation the baby will take on characteristics of the mother carrying the baby, her blood and body sustains and grows the embryo into a baby.

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    Mute S
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    Jun 26th 2018, 8:58 AM

    @Blah blah: ac

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    Mute The Bob
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    Jun 26th 2018, 8:59 AM

    @Blah blah: Ahh that is pretty much false. While epigenetics during gestation does apparently have some minor effects (not yet greatly understood), genetics play a much, much greater role on the characteristics of the baby.

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    Mute S
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    Jun 26th 2018, 8:59 AM

    @Blah blah: actually that’s not correct. The blood type and physical characteristics will be of the genetic material in the egg and sperm.

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    Mute Ciara Ni Mhurchu
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    Jun 26th 2018, 10:40 AM

    @Blah blah: not remotely true! The DNA is in the egg and sperm so there will be nothing donated from the woman who carries the pregnancy.

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    Mute Moorooka Mick
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    Jun 26th 2018, 9:34 AM

    The chief material issue is inheritance rights and how a sperm donor’s estate could be severely broke up disadvantaging his natural children . Just imagine if a donor’s sperm resulted in say 50 children?

    Would his wife have the right to know how many children were born to the recipients
    of his donations ? Would his wife have a right to know this before marriage. Would the wife have a right to know when her husband makes a donation?

    The above article focuses on the rights of the child but gives little consideration to the donor, inheritance or his wife’s right to know.

    For these reasons, I reckon that the sperm donor’s ID should not be disclosed.

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    Mute Mark McDermott
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    Jun 26th 2018, 9:56 AM

    @Moorooka Mick: No the wife doesn’t have a right to know, same way id say a husband doesn’t have a right to know if his wife donated eggs. I can’t see how inheritance could be a problem, if a sperm donor donated twice and two children were born from the donations they would have no right to inheritance as they would grow up in a different family, brought up by different parents.

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    Mute Dave Doyle
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    Jun 26th 2018, 10:05 AM

    @Mark McDermott: What about if the donor wrote a will and said I leave 50% of my estate to my children…..then those children conceived by donor sperm would be entitled to something

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    Mute Ciara Ni Mhurchu
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    Jun 26th 2018, 10:38 AM

    @Moorooka Mick: a person conceived by donor sperm as as much right to that donors estate as an adopted person does to their biological fathers estate, i.e none whatsoever.

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    Mute Moorooka Mick
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    Jun 26th 2018, 11:33 AM

    @Mark McDermott:
    Just have a read of this and then tell me that children born via sperm donation do not have inheritance rights:

    http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/birth_family_relationships/married_couples/marital_status_and_inheritance.html

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    Mute Ciara Ni Mhurchu
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    Jun 26th 2018, 6:20 PM

    @Moorooka Mick: Children born via donor egg or sperm have no inheritance rights from the donor. There.

    3
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    Mute Moorooka Mick
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    Jun 29th 2018, 12:30 AM

    @Ciara Ni Mhurchu:

    What part of this do you not understand?

    “Children have no absolute right to inherit their parent’s estate if the deceased parent has made a valid will. However, if a child considers that he/she has not been adequately provided for, he/she may make an application to court. The child need not be a minor or be dependent in order to use this procedure. The court has to decide if the parent has “failed in his moral duty to make proper provision for the child in accordance with his means”. Each case is decided on its merits and the court looks at the situation from the point of view of a “prudent and just” parent. Anyone considering challenging a will on these grounds should get legal opinion before applying to the court.” (See source in the previous post)

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    Mute Dave Doyle
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    Jun 26th 2018, 8:11 AM

    All well and good to be able to find out the donor…but if you don’t exist because the donors stop donating the law is worthless. Maybe a voluntary register and the mother can choose sperm from the anonymous or registered sperm. That is if there is any on the registered sperm list!

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    Mute Mark Lyndon
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    Jun 27th 2018, 8:49 PM

    @Dave Doyle: According to HFEA figures, the numbers of UK sperm donors went *up* eight years in a row following the ending of anonymity, thus reversing a three year decline. The 631 donors in 2012 was the highest figure since they started keeping records, and well over double the figure in 2004 (239) just before anonymity ended.

    I don’t have a huge problem with sperm donors being paid, or the numbers of children per donor being increased, but we should never go back to the days of anonymous donors. The donor-conceived are the ones who matter in this, not the parents, not the clinics, and not the donors.

    If a sperm donor wants to be anonymous, then he simply shouldn’t be a sperm donor. I was a sperm donor over 30 years ago, and if I have any genetic children looking for me, I’ve made it as easy as possible for them to find me. Over a thousand other donors have registered at the Donor Sibling Registry and the UK Donor Conceived Register.

    Some “anonymous” donors have been identified using DNA and genealogical databases, so it`s no longer possible for anyone to guarantee a donor that they will remain anonymous anyway.

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    Mute John Murphy
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    Jun 26th 2018, 1:00 PM

    Should be banned outright, along with egg donation and surrogacy. They kept telling us during the abortion referendum that there were children in care with nobody to adopt them. Shouldn’t we be focusing on getting them families?

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    Mute M to the O to the L
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    Jun 26th 2018, 1:50 PM

    @John Murphy: do you think parents who go down the donor route should be adopting these children in care instead. Quite a simplistic view and not really a relevant comparison in my opinion.

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    Mute John Murphy
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    Jun 26th 2018, 3:51 PM

    @M to the O to the L: Why not? They want children. Those children presumably want parents. What’s the issue?

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    Mute Kay Kehoe
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    Jun 26th 2018, 5:06 PM

    @John Murphy: In view of what we know today about the importance of genetic records and especially in view of the collective condemnation led by the government of the injustice done 50 and more years ago to adopted children who have discovered their birth certs were false the action of this government in perpetuating the practice of anonymous donation thereby making it virtually impossible to trace biological parents or access their genetic records is brazenly hypocritical. The only difference between false birth registration of donor-conceived children today and false registration of adopted children in the past is that a law banning anonymous donation has been passed but not commenced while no legislation was in place years ago. Shame on this government.

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    Mute Me_a_monkey
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    Jun 26th 2018, 7:44 AM

    Pew pew pew

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    Mute Michael Kavanagh
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    Jun 26th 2018, 9:09 AM

    Can’t get a little scenario out of my mind.
    Two kids in the playground.
    “What does your Dad do? Mines a builder”
    “He’s a Sperm Bank Executive!”

    16
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    Mute David Knight
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    Jun 26th 2018, 11:07 AM

    No-one is going to come clean about that…

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    Mute michael nordmann
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    Feb 2nd 2019, 10:28 PM

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    Mute Bríd Gallagher
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    Dec 21st 2018, 12:10 AM

    So what you don’t know anything about the donor? I wanna know that the dad is good looking before I get inseminated, ew!

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    Mute Jody Perry
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    Jun 27th 2018, 1:38 PM

    hmmm.. this one should be a case to case basis.. depends on the donor and on the receiver.. well, if you’ve been ttc, might want to read this – https://www.conceiveeasy.com/get-pregnant/pregnancy-symptoms-top-10-signs-of-early-pregnancy/

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