Proposed National Registry May Expose ID Of Egg, Sperm Donors

(AHN) - The Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology, an Alaska-based organization, is spearheading moves to create a national registry that may expose the identity of egg and sperm donors. The society's intention is to track the health history and backgrounds of anonymous sperm and egg donors to help surrogate parents take care of children born with genetically passed ailments.

The proposal is a result of an article in the Los Angeles Times about Krystie, a two-year-old girl from Rancho Mirage who was conceived by a surrogate mother for a gay couple through an anonymous egg donor. But it turned out she was born with Tay-Sachs

Victims of Tay-Sachs, a neurological disease, usually pass away within five years. To be a carrier of the Tay-Sachs mutation, both of the child's biological parents must be Tay-Sachs carriers. One of the two gay men whose sperm was used had the mutation, but he was not aware he was a carrier. The harder part was trying to trace the biological mother who had not contacted the gay couple or the agency that arranged the egg donation.

The case goes beyond Krystie since the egg donor may have donated more than once to sperm and egg banks, placing more potential babies conceived and born through assisted reproductive technology at risk.

Unfortunately, there is no system to alert future adoptive parents of problems of this nature or to prevent donors from continuing to give their eggs or sperms even if they were discovered to be carriers of genetic disorders.

Fertility centers are required by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to have detailed information on pregnancy results such as attempts at pregnancy, technology used and result of the treatment, but the fertility clinics do not have data on individual donors' medical histories, diseases or other problems. They also do not link the fruit of the treatment with their parent-donors.