Understanding Egg Donation – Anonymous vs. Full Disclosure

The World Egg Bank offers two different types of disclosure to our donors: anonymous or full disclosure.

What is anonymous?

Anonymous egg donations apply to United States recipients and in other regions where by law egg donation remain anonymous. In these cases the only information about the egg donor shared with the recipient is; age, ethnicity, medical his tory, family history, childhood or recent photographs, education, etc. Identifying information such as name, address, contact information is never released to the recipients.

What is full-disclosure?

Full-disclosure is an option for our donors who agree to donate their eggs to UK and Australian recipients. In these regions, anonymous donations are no longer allowed so that people born from donated gametes are able to trace their biological history if they desire. Agreeing to full disclosure means that the donor is open to the possibility that if a child is born from her donation, the child might be able to contact her. By doing so the egg donor is opening herself to being an eligible donor for about 50% of The World Egg Bank’s current recipient’s in full disclosure regions in addition to the recipients from anonymous regions.

Legal Implications of full-disclosure: Donors, recipients and the individuals born as result of the donation, have legal rights and responsibilities.

• Individuals born from donor procedures have a right to obtain identifying information of their donor, once they reach the age of 18.
• As a donor you do not have any legal responsibility for the people/person born as result of your donation.
• All donors and recipients are required to have counselling before proceeding to donor treatment.
• If you and the recipient agree to the release of identifying information, contact, and/or information exchange can occur before the child is 18 years of age.

Donor’s identifying information will be kept in a government registry in the region the recipient/intended parents reside/where the child is born. If a child whom resulted from donation chooses that they want to have access to the identifying information of the egg donor they must apply through the government registry and go through counselling to get approved access.

If the child is approved access the donor would be contacted, offered counselling and asked if she is comfortable giving consent to the release of information.

Keep in mind that just because a donor agrees to full-disclosure does not guarantee their eggs will be sold to recipients who reside in full-disclosure regions. It also does not guarantee that if their eggs are sold to recipients in these regions that a birth will occur or that a child born from a donation would contact their biological donors.