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Assisted Reproductive Technology

NSW Health Central Register | Welcome to the New South Wales Health Central Register

New

The Assisted Reproductive Technology Amendment (Transitional Provisions Relating to Donated Gametes) Regulation 2012 (Amending Regulation) makes a minor but important change to the transitional arrangements. The Amending Regulation extends the transitional provisions for women who have obtained donated gametes before 1 January 2010 and who have already conceived a child using those gametes before 1 January 2010 to continue to use those gametes before 1 January 2015 without the full effect of the ART Act applying.

NSW Health Central Register

The NSW Health Central Register has been established to support information for donor conceived people, donors of sperm, eggs and embryos, parents and siblings of children who are donor conceived, those born through surrogacy arrangements and health services providing assisted reproductive technology.  

Before registering or applying for information from the Central Register, the NSW Ministry of Health strongly recommends that you discuss this matter with a counsellor.

	(NEW) Donor Conception Brochure
	I am donor conceived. Were you donor conceived BEFORE 1 January 2010? Were you donor conceived AFTER 1 January 2010?
	I am a donor. I was a sperm, egg or embryo donor BEFORE 1 January 2010? I was a sperm, egg or embryo donor AFTER 1 January 2010?
	My child was donor conceived. Was your child donor conceived BEFORE 1 January 2010? Was your child donor conceived AFTER 1 January 2010?
	Art Provider Are you an Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) provider? Click here
	Surrogacy Do you need to provide information to the Central Register about a baby born through a Surrogacy arrangement? Click here

 

Welcome to the New South Wales Health Central Register

There are babies born every year in NSW who are conceived through the donation of sperm, eggs or embryos (gametes). Until recently, there has been no process that supports the disclosure of information about the people involved.  This has meant that many of these donor offspring have been unable to identify a biological parent or obtain information about their genetic heritage and background.  This has been distressing for some and occasionally created medical and social dilemmas.

The NSW Ministry of Health strongly recommends those considering applying for information or registering their own details to speak with a counsellor first.

In 2010, the NSW Government became one of only four state governments with legislation to assist exchange of information on donor conceived people. The NSW Assisted Reproductive Technology Act 2007 (ART) now gives donors and donor offspring greater opportunity to access information about each other.  

A NSW Health Central Register has been established which includes Voluntary information about children born as a result of ART treatment using donated sperm, eggs or embryos, where their conception occurred before 1 January 2010. 

The Central Register also contains Mandatory information which is now required for all such births, where their conception occurred after 1 January 2010.

This website provides important information about the voluntary and mandatory nature of the information contained on the NSW Health Central Register for ART as well as surrogacy. 

 

For information about available support services click here

Information:

From 1 January 2010 ART providers must provide information to the NSW Ministry of Health for the Central Register regarding any baby who was born as a result of ART treatment using donated sperm, eggs or embryos or was born through surrogacy, and whose conception occurred after 1 January 2010. 

The ART provider must also provide indentifying information about the Donor who donated their sperm, eggs or embryo.  Donors must provide the following Mandatory information to ART providers for inclusion on the Central Register:  

• Full name, residential address, date and place of birth
• ethnicity and physical characteristics
• any medical history or genetic test results of the donor or the donor’s family that are relevant to the future health of:
  • a person undergoing ART treatment involving the use of  the donated sperm, eggs or embryo, or
  • any offspring born as a result of that treatment, or
  • any descendent of any such offspring,
• sex and year of birth of other offspring arising from the donation
• name of each ART provider who has previously obtained donated sperm, eggs or embryo from the donor and the date on which the sperm, eggs or embryo was obtained

 

Voluntary information:

For those people who were donor conceived before 1 January 2010 and for people who fall within the transitional provisions, you can register any of the above selected information about yourself on the Central Register. 

Donors who donated sperm, eggs or embryos before 1 January 2010 can also register their details. 

Where both the donor and donor conceived have given their express consent to do so, information about each other can be exchanged. 

Surrogacy:

The 2011 Surrogacy Regulations came into effect in March 2011. 

The Surrogacy Act provides a framework for the Supreme Court to grant orders that would transfer full legal parentage of children from their birth parent/s, to the intended parent/s under a surrogacy arrangement.  The legislation explains the changes to reporting for children born using a surrogate and its role of assisting with parentage orders.

Intended parents must now register information about themselves, their child and the surrogate, as well as any person who donated eggs or sperm or embryos, with the Central Register before the NSW Supreme Court will make a Parentage Order. 

Contact Us

Email: ARTPHCU@doh.health.nsw.gov.au

Telephone: (02) 9424 5953

This web page is managed and authorised by Private Health Care of Clinical Safety, Quality and Governance of the NSW Department of Health. Last updated: 15 June, 2012

• In this section:

• Assisted Reproductive Technology
• I was donor conceived before 1 January 2010
• I was donor conceived after 1 January 2010
• I was a sperm, egg or embryo donor before 1 January 2010
• I was a sperm, egg or embryo donor after 1 January 2010
• My child was donor conceived before 1 January 2010
• My child was donor conceived after 1 January 2010
• Surrogacy
• Application Forms
• I am an Art Provider
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