One year after the revision of the bioethics law, the anonymity of sperm and egg donors is lifted in France. In this case, people born thanks to a gamete donation made after September 1, 2022 will be able, as soon as they come of age, to obtain information on the donor, his identity and his situation at the time of the donation. It was a long-standing fight led by associations of children born by donated gametes claiming “access to origins”.
On the other hand, the revision of the law does not imply any consequences in the field of filiation and has no retroactive effect. But notice ABC, “a commission will be created to help current adults find their donors, but without guarantee of success, because the latter may object to their identity being revealed”.
For the British Conservative newspaper The Times, “sperm and egg donors have lost the right to anonymity in France, even though this could have strong repercussions on the treatment of infertility”. The title expands:According to some detractors, the French, already reluctant to give compared to the British, will be even more so when they can be contacted by those who have been conceived thanks to their gametes.”
Alignment with neighbors
By enacting this change in legislation, France is aligning itself with the policy of some of its neighbours, starting with the United Kingdom, which has applied the same rules since 2005.
The Times explains that a drop in donations had indeed been recorded, but had remained temporary: “When Britain ended anonymity, the number of gamete donors plummeted within a year, but after 12 months donations started to rise again, and today the number of egg and sperm donors is higher than it was before.”
Still, officials from the Centers for the Study and Conservation of Human Eggs and Sperm (Cecos) in France are warning of a lack of donations. The situation could become problematic with the opening of medically assisted procreation for lesbian couples and single women.