Obligations of a donor

Its been a little while since my last post. Mainly the fact that aside from being in the process of weaning Mr 1, there really isn't a lot going on (life aside). I thought that I should finally talk a little bit about the legal side of things and the obligations of a donor. 

Assuming my eggs end up becoming a child there are a number of things to think about in terms of my responsibilities as a donor. I think for most people this is the most scary part of the whole process and that rings true for me as well.

Of course, remember this is New Zealand and so all of this only applies here. There are 2 laws which specifically apply to donation: The HART Act, 2004 and the Status of Children Act. 

Under the 'Human Assisted Reproductive Technology Act 2004' donors must be identifiable- meaning that it can't be anonymous. 
As a donor you can be identified at some certain points:

• Once a child is born, the parents can find out the donor's name
• A child can find out when they turn 18
• Under special circumstances a child can request this information at 16

Donors can request to know the names of children born from their donation, but the child has to be at least 18 and they can say no.

Whenever a child is born through donation, the Births, Deaths & Marriages department must be notified with such information. 

Under this act sperm, eggs or embryos can initially only be stored for 10 years. An extension can be requested through the Ethics committee (ECART) . 

This act also states that it is illegal to pay for donation. This also means that if you go overseas and pay for a donor, it is illegal to bring frozen embryos back into New Zealand with you. This doesn't mean that as a donor you have to pay anything though as the recipient normally covers this- either directly or indirectly. Expenses are reimbursed including a small amount covering travel for each procedure. 

The HART act is quite the hefty document, so if you have a spare couple of hours ;) and feel like giving it a good read, here is the link: HART Act 2004

The Status of Children Act, 1969 defines who the legal parents of a child are. The woman who gives birth is the legal mother and her husband (civil union partner or de facto) is also a legal parent. A donor has no rights or liabilities for a child. (for surrogacy its a little more complicated).

I think that has covered everything. Its a little dry, but information you need to know. 

We are just down to one feed per night. My recipient is on some prep drugs so once Mr1 is weaned, its all go! 

xJ