[The Dutch law on artificial-insemination donor data: content and consequences].
In 2004, a law was introduced in the Netherlands that gives children conceived by artificial insemination with donor semen (AID), oocytes or embryos the right to learn the identity of the donor when they are 16. The permanently anonymous semen donor will now be replaced by donors that are anonymous at the time of insemination, but traceable later. During the period preceding and immediately following the enactment of the law, the number of semen donors and semen banks dropped drastically and there was a change in the type of donor. The law, furthermore, creates several new moral and psychological dilemmas for both parents and AID-offspring. For parents, for example: should I tell my child that he was conceived by AID, knowing that he may become acquainted with the donor, with all the consequences that may entail? And for AID-offspring, if they have been told that they were conceived by AID: do I really wish to meet the donor? It must still be shown whether AID-offspring will feel a need for contact with the donor, and whether such contact is satisfying.
Ziekenhuis Rijnstate, Postbus 9555, Arnhem. pjanssens@alysis.nl
P M V
PM
Janssens
G A J
GA
Dunselman
A H M
AH
Simons
M D
MD
Kloosterman
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002651:Child Advocacy; D003219:Confidentiality / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D006801:Humans; D007316:Insemination, Artificial, Heterologous / Q000941:ethics* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D009426:Netherlands; D014019:Tissue Donors / Q000941:ethics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*