I was donor conceived BEFORE 1 January 2010
Voluntary InformationWhat do I have to do to register or apply for information?
What kind of information do I need to provide to help find my donor’s record?
What kind of information can I put on the NSW Health Central Register for my donor or genetic sibling?
Who can access my information?
Can I remove my information from the Register?
What kind of information about my donor will I be able to get?
What is the process to match voluntary information on the Central Register?
What do I do if I want to know about my genetic siblings?
Can I find out about genetic siblings, but not my donor?
How will the NSW Ministry of Health let me know?
What if I do not want to be contacted?
What if a donor/donor offspring is found, but they are not on the Register?
FAQs
Voluntary Information
If you are donor conceived, over 18 years of age and were donor conceived before 1 January 2010, you can apply for information about your donor or other offspring from that donor. You can also register your own identifying information voluntarily on the NSW Health Central Register.
Based on your expressed consent, your information will be shared with current ART providers in NSW in an attempt to locate identifying information about your donor or other offspring from that same donor.
If this information is available the NSW Ministry of Health must wait for the donor or any other offspring from that donor to also voluntarily register his/her details. The NSW Ministry of Health must receive consent from the other party after they have also placed their details on the NSW Health Central Register before can be advised or any information about them can be released.
Anyone who places voluntary information on the Central Register, has the option of deciding who is allowed access to the information and what information can be released to whom.
What do I have to do to register or apply for information?
Before registering with the Central Register or applying for information NSW Health strongly recommends that you discuss this matter with a counsellor.
To register or apply, download an Application Form here. Once you have completed them, send them back into the NSW Ministry of Health along with 100 certified points of identification.
In the last 30 years, attitudes to donor conception have changed. Prior to 1 January 2010, there was no specific legal requirement regarding record keeping for donors and many provided eggs, sperm and embryos anonymously. Because of this there will be some people who were donor conceived who may not be able to be assisted because information is not available or the donor has not, or will not, consent to release.
What kind of information do I need to provide to help find my donor's record?
In order for the ART Provider to be able to research records effectively the following information is required (where known):
- Name
- Date of Birth
- Mother’s name (at time of treatment)
- Father’s name
- Donor code (if known)
- Your blood group
Knowing your donor’s donor code and the name of the ART Provider that assisted with your conception, will assist greatly in being able to find information.
To register or apply for information you will need to apply in writing by using one of the application forms on this site and providing 100 points of identification. Or you can contact the NSW Ministry of Health in person or by phone to request that forms are sent to you.
You must be over 18 to register or apply for information on the Central Register.
What kind of information can I put on the NSW Health Central Register for my donor or genetic sibling?
A donor conceived person who was conceived as a result of ART treatment using donated sperm, eggs or embryos before 1 January 2010 can choose to provide any or all of the following information:
- full name, residential address
- sex,
- date and place of birth
- Mother ‘s name (at time of treatment)
- Father’s name
- any medical history or genetic test of yours (or your family) that is relevant to the future health of the donor or other donor offspring
- physical attributes and characteristics
- any personal information you are happy to provide or are happy to have exchanged
Who can access my information?
For people over 18, and who were donor conceived before 1 January 2010, any information you have provided voluntarily to the Central Register can only be given to those people for whom you have given express consent to do so.
Can I remove my information from the Register?
If the information was provided voluntarily it can be removed only by the person who provided it, by notifying the NSW Ministry of Health in writing.
What kind of information about my donor will I be able to get?
If you were donor conceived before 1 January 2010 and is over 18, they can apply to the Register to receive the information that a donor or genetic sibling has consented to you having. Where a donor is providing voluntary information he/she will be encouraged to provide as much information as possible to help the donor offspring applicant who is seeking information.
The donor will also be asked to indicate which parts of this information they have consented to being made available to you. For example while they may consent to their ethnicity, physical characteristics, medical history, date and place of birth, they may not want their name or address released.
It is also important to remember that the reliability of information and records held by the ART provider cannot be guaranteed. You may wish to consider genetic testing to confirm any biological links.
What is the process to match voluntary information on the Central Register?
- Once your application has been verified through the required 100 point identification check, the NSW Ministry of Health will send your details to the named ART provider to see whether your donor (or, where requested, other offspring from your donor) can be identified. If you do not know which ART provider assisted with your conception, your application will be sent to all registered providers in NSW.
- If an ART provider identifies your donor, initial non identifying information will be provided to the NSW Ministry of Health in an attempt to match your records.
- If the donor has consented to the release of information, has registered on the NSW Health Central Register, and a match is made, the information the donor has consented to release can be provided to you.
OR
If the donor has not placed their details on the Central Register, the Ministry of Health will hold all requests and if at some stage in the future the donor voluntarily applies to put their information on the Central Register and consents to release of information, it will be provided to you. In some cases, the ART Provider may already have consent from the donor, at the time of donation. If so, you will be notified of this and will be free to contact the ART Provider directly.
Due to privacy considerations the NSW Ministry of Health is not able to approach the donor about seeking their consent to release information.
What do I do if I want to know about my genetic siblings?
- If you apply for information on siblings, once your application has been verified through the required 100 point identification check, the NSW Ministry of Health will send your details to the named ART provider to see whether your donor (or other offspring from your donor) can be identified. If you do not know which ART provider assisted with your conception, your application will be sent to all registered providers in NSW.
- If an ART provider identifies your donor, non identifying donor and donor offspring information will be provided to the NSW Ministry of Health. At this stage the NSW Ministry of Health will check against all other applications from donor offspring that have the same donor.
- If a donor offspring has consented to the release of information and has voluntarily applied to put their information on the Central Register, the information they have consented to can be provided to you. This will be reviewed for each donor offspring individually.
- If the donor offspring has not registered or placed information voluntarily on the Central Register, the NSW Ministry of Health will hold the donor information and should other donor offspring come forward to apply to the Register with matching donor information, then the information they have consented to can be released to you.
Can I find out about genetic siblings, but not my donor?
Yes. You can apply to find out information about either or both of these parties. You are under no obligation to apply for both.
You can also consent to only your genetic sibling having access to the information you voluntarily place onto the Register, but not your donor.
How will the NSW Ministry of Health let me know?
When an authenticated match has been made between donor and offspring/other offspring, the NSW Ministry of Health will notify you via Registered Post that a match has been made. To ensure you are able to receive the result in a supported way, you will also receive information about how to access counselling and the relevant ART Provider.
What if I do not want to be contacted?
If you only want to voluntarily place non identifying information about yourself on the Central Register, and are not seeking information about any other party, that is fine. You can still place some information about yourself such as your medical history, and there is no obligation to do anything further. The NSW Ministry of Health will only contact you if you consent to being contacted.
Only information you consent to be released will be released. It is also fine if you only want to access information on the Central Register but not consent to release of any information about yourself (other than to ART providers to search for a potential match).
What if a donor/donor offspring is found, but they are not on the Register?
For information provided voluntarily, information can only be released where details have been placed on the Register and consent has been provided that allows access to information provided. In some cases, the ART Provider may already have consent from the donor, at the time of donation. If so, you will be notified of this and are free to contact the ART Provider directly.
If the Register does not contain information about your donor, you are always free to contact your ART provider (where known) directly.
ART providers have a responsibility to make every endeavour to assist in your request for information. It may be that some records are not available or incomplete and in these instances, they may not be able to assist you to find the donor.
There will also be times when the donor wishes to remain anonymous. In these instances, no information will be able to be provided.
FAQs
A list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) provide further detail about Voluntary information on the Central Register and the process that the Ministry of Health and NSW ART Providers undertake in order to facilitate the exchange of information.