Requests have poured in every week, but responses are still rare. Created a year ago, the Commission for access to data from third-party donors for people born through medically assisted procreation (Capadd) received “434 admissible requests” from people born through anonymous gamete donation and who wanted to have access to information about the donor.
The commission managed to identify 101 donors, she said, thus confirming figures revealed by France Info. Among them, some have died, which puts an end to the procedure, and others have refused to reveal their identity. For the moment, the commission has only been able to send the applicants three positive responses.
435 spontaneous consents
To find them, the commission first contacts the center for the study and conservation of eggs and human sperm (Cecos, commonly known as the “sperm bank”) where the donation was made. The latter consults its archives in order to identify the donor sought. The commission then takes care of contacting him to find out whether or not he agrees to communicate his information. If so, their data is added to a register managed by the Biomedicine Agency and then communicated to the person (now an adult) born from gamete donation.
This approach was made possible by the bioethics law of 2021. Since the entry into force of this law on September 1, 2022, the sperm donor or egg donor must necessarily consent to the future disclosure of their identity to children. which will be born from this gift, if they request it once they become adults.
The commission also received 435 spontaneous consents from donors, who had made a donation before the change in the law and accepted that their identity be included in the register in order to be revealed if a person conceived by their donation requests it. Since the creation of sperm and egg banks in 1973, it is estimated that more than 70,000 children have been born thanks to gamete donations.