Country SA PHN Newsletter June 2025
It’s no secret. Donor conception laws have changed.
People conceived in South Australia through donor conception treatment now have the right to access their genetic heritage information on South Australia’s new online Donor Conception Register (DCR).
This follows a change to assisted reproductive treatment (ART) laws which became operational on 26 February 2025, and is the end result of significant positive feedback from extensive public consultation undertaken over many years.
Individual donors, donor-conceived people, and parents of donor-conceived people contributed to the consultation feedback on the proposed law change, as well as other stakeholder groups including both the ART industry and donor conception community support groups across Australia.
The new laws allow operation of the publicly available DCR, and acknowledge the importance of genetic heritage in shaping a person’s identity and self-esteem.
Knowledge of one’s genetic heritage has many health and wellbeing benefits and can be lifechanging.
The DCR allows donors and donor-conceived people (or their parent(s) if aged under 18 years), to share important medical information with their DCR connections for things like family planning and enables early steps to be taken, to minimise or prevent disease linked to genetic conditions.
The new central and safe online DCR operates in real-time and contains information dating back to the 1970s (where it is available and can be verified).
The DCR is not searchable and does not offer DNA testing. It uses information from South Australian ART records to automatically connect people who are linked to a donor conception treatment in our state, that resulted in the birth of a child, including:
- private donor conception arrangements where the donor(s) was (are) recorded on the birth registration statement submitted to and verified by the South Australian Births, Deaths and Marriages (BDM) registration office, and
- information about legal surrogacy agreements where donated human reproductive material is used (gametes or embryos) in the treatment.
The DCR balances the privacy of people who have donated sperm, eggs or embryos with the rights of donor-conceived people.
Donors may have wondered if any children were born as a result of their donation. Donor-conceived people may be curious about their parent’s donor(s) and any donor-conceived siblings.
Operation of the new laws and the new publicly accessible DCR supports a necessary move away from the historic culture of secrecy around donor conception, where donors whether they wanted it or not were guaranteed lifelong anonymity, and parents were often advised to keep the truth of their child’s conception a secret from their child.
If you’re donor-conceived, have ever donated sperm, eggs or embryos… even back in the 1970s – or received a donor conception treatment in South Australia that resulted in the birth of your child – learn more about South Australia’s Donor Conception Register (DCR).
For more information visit the SA Health website.
Published on: June 5, 2025
