Human Reproduction, Vol 13, 3268-3273, Copyright © 1998 by Oxford University Press
R Landau
Donor assisted conception provides new opportunities for achieving
parenthood but at the same time raises issues of secrecy, anonymity, and
the management of the offspring's genetic origins. As with adoption, the
child's right to a genetic identity is at stake. The first part of this
paper examines bio-psychosocial evidence indicating that maintaining
secrecy and anonymity regarding genetic parents may be detrimental to the
well-being of the donor offspring, the donor, and the nurturing, social
parents. The second part discusses different approaches to the disclosure
of genetic origins. The third part presents the case of Israel, as
reflected mainly in the Report of the Israeli Ministry of Justice (1994).
The paper shows that the Committee, yielding to the medical profession in
the country, preferred the interests of the adults involved in donor
assisted conception to those of the offspring and made no sincere attempts
to protect the child's basic right to genetic identity. In doing so, it
turned its back on the well established policy of openness in the field of
adoption and on the emerging trend to similar openness in donor assisted
conception in other countries.
REVIEWS
The management of genetic origins: secrecy and openness in donor assisted conception in Israel and elsewhere
Paul Baerwald School of Social Work, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.
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