donor rights

recently the view profiled a woman who used a sperm bank to get pregnant. years later she and her son tracked down the donor, who did not want to be contacted. eventually the donor's sister called back and told the woman that several members of their family had died of the same inheritable genetic disease. the son was tested, and it turned out he had the same defect. he has since had corrective surgery, but he will need screenings every year.

the mother now wants a federal law requiring sperm donors to report major changes in medical history. she mentioned that there is another state that requires, once the child turns 18, for the donor's medical history and contact info be released. while i do think that a person is entitled to their medical history, i don't know that they are entitled to their knowing their genetic parents.

i think a lot of people put their kids up for adoption or donate genetic material and really just don't want to know about it afterwards. if i were raped and decided to have the baby but not keep it, i don't think i would want this child finding me later. i'm okay with giving them updated medical history, as i think they have a right to stay physically healthy, but i think that i have a right to privacy, because your emotional needs to not trump mine.

if the govt sent me a form every year asking for changes in medical history, there could also be a yes / no box: do you want us to release your contact info should the recipient of your genes want it? i think this would be a pretty easy way for me to attempt to keep my identity hidden, and every year i would be asked the same question should i change my mind.


(new pornographers - my rights versus yours)