Artificial insemination using donor semen and the issue of secrecy: The views of donors and recipient couples

Abstract

The issue of secrecy and artificial insemination using donor semen has psychosocial, moral and legal implications. These implications are explored within the context of New Zealand AID practice, and particularly, recent legislation aimed at clarifying the status of the child. The results of two studies, one covering 37 donors involved in six AID programmes and the other covering 55 couples who had been accepted into one of the same six programmes, insomuch as they relate to issues of secrecy, are reported. Recipient couples and donors, while thinking that secrecy is important, have told other people—a not dissimilar situation to what occurred in the adoption field 25 years ago. Forty-one per cent of recipient couples and donors do not believe children should be told of their origins. A high 46% of couples had not yet decided if they would tell their child. Donors are almost equally divided over the child's right to non-identifying information about them. Donors are more likely than recipient couples to believe that the child who knows s/he has been conceived via AID will want information about them. Only 11% of donors and 5% of couples believe a child would want to know the identity of the donor, although for three quarters of both groups the issue is far from clear. Donors were not as opposed to the possibility of tracing occurring as some doctors suggest. Response to questions concerning the legal position suggests there is considerable confusion amongst both groups. The overwhelming majority of couples were intending to place the husband's name on the birth certificate, regarding him as the father. The results of this study are compared with the results of similar studies undertaken in Australia. Secrecy operates to serve the interests of those who have the power to make the decisions. In this respect, the needs and rights of the children are likely to be ignored and this paper calls for greater recognition of their needs and rights.