Are you an ART (Assisted Reproductive Technology) Provider?
ART Providers have responsibilities under the Assisted Reproductive Technology Act 2007 (ART Act) for providing information to the Central Register.
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.
Mandatory 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.
ART providers 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. ART Providers are required, where possible, to assist with this exchange of information.
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.
Mandatory
Mandatory Information that has been collected by ART Providers will not be available for release until 2028 for those who were donor conceived after 1 January 2010.
However, parents of those who were donor conceived can apply for non-identifying information contained on the Central Register about the donor. Identifying information that has been provided by a donor can only be provided under special circumstances to parents in the event of a medical emergency or life threatening situation.
Under Section 14 of the Regulations, information is required to be provided by ART providers within 2 months after the birth of a live offspring born as a result of ART treatment, provided by the ART Provider and using a donated gamete.
Voluntary
In the last 30 years, attitudes to donor conception have changed. Prior to 1 January 2010, few regulations existed regarding consent of the donor or accurate record keeping. In addition, many donors provided eggs, sperm and embryos under the condition of anonymity.
The NSW Ministry of Health has developed internal procedures for the exchange of Voluntary information designed to assist those donors and donor offspring seeking information about each other. As the NSW Ministry of Health does not hold health records, ART Providers will assist in the facilitation of the exchange of Voluntary information.
The following link is an Information Sheet written for ART Providers on the Assisted Reproductive Technology Act 2007:
http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/resources/hospitals/phc/pdf/info_for_art_providers_a4.pdf
What is the process to match voluntary information on the Central Register?
1. Once an application has been verified through the required 100 point identification check, the NSW Ministry of Health will send the applicant’s details to the named ART provider to see whether the donor (or, where requested, other offspring from the same donor) can be identified. If the applicant does not list an ART provider, the Ministry of Health will send the application to all registered providers in NSW.
2. If the ART provider is able to identify the applicant, the ART Provider returns the following information to the Ministry of Health:
a. Donor Code
b. Donor’s date of birth
c. Donor’s Blood Group
d. Confirmation of the ART Provider.
The ART Provider will also indicate if the donor provided consent to being contacted when they gave their sperm, egg or embryo donation.
3. The NSW Ministry of Health will see if there is a corresponding donor or donor offspring Central Register application with the same four pieces of information.
4. Where there is a corresponding application, the NSW Ministry of Health will return both applications to the ART Provider for authentication of both records.
Our records show that the donor has consented to release information. Do we give it to the Ministry?
No. The exchange of Voluntary information on the Central Register can only happen when both parties apply to the Central Register. When you receive an application from the Ministry of Health from an applicant to the Register, and you then provide us with the corresponding Donor Code, Blood Group, Date of Birth and confirmation of your facility, you can indicate whether at the time of donating, the donor gave express consent for the exchange of any information.
The Ministry of Health will inform the applicant to contact you directly.
What will happen if the donor is found?
If the ART provider identifies the relevant donor based on their records, they will notify the NSW Ministry of Health. These non identifying details will be retained until such time as the relevant donor registers and provides consent to have their information released to another party.
Due to privacy considerations the NSW Ministry of Health is not able to approach the donor about seeking their consent to release information.
The Ministry of Health will notify the applicant that a match has been found and that the next step is waiting for the donor or donor offspring’s consent. The Ministry of Health will also retain the original application in the event that other offspring from that same donor, or the donor themself, applies to the Voluntary Register seeking information.
We have embryos in storage created using donated sperm and eggs before 1 January 2010...does the donor's information need to be included on the Central Register if the embryos are used?
If there are existing embryos in storage that were created using donated gametes, the donor’s information will NOT be included on the Central Register if:
- the embryo was created before 1 January 2010 using donated gametes; and
- the embryo is used to provide ART treatment to a woman before 1 January 2015.
While a donor’s information in this instance is not mandatory for Register, a donor may decide to include their information voluntarily.
A couple had previously conceived a child using eggs or sperm donated before 1 January 2010...if they want to conceive another child using the same donor's eggs or sperm, would those donor's details be included on the Central Register?
If a couple had previously conceived a child using donated eggs or sperm before 1 January 2010 and they want now to conceive another child using the same donor eggs or sperm, the donor’s information will NOT be included on the Register if:
- the woman has, before 1 January 2010, already conceived a child as a result of ART treatment using a donated eggs or sperm from the donor; and
- the donated eggs or sperm were obtained before 1 January 2010; and
- the donated eggs or sperm were used to provide ART treatment to a woman before 1 January 2013
While a donor’s information in this instance is not mandatory for Register, a donor may decide to include their information voluntarily.
Is there a limit to how many women can use the same egg or sperm donor?
Section 27 limits the number of women who can use the same egg or donor sperm to 5.
While section 27 of the ART Act creates a five women limit, the ART Regulation includes a transitional provision in respect of women who have already conceived a child using donated gametes and women who have embryos, created using donated gametes, in storage. As a result of the ART Regulation, section 27 will not prevent ART treatment being given to a woman if the gamete used in the treatment is a donated gamete that was obtained before the 1 January 2010 and:
- an embryo was created using the donated egg or sperm before 1 January 2010 and the embryo is used to provide the ART treatment to the woman within 5 years of the commencement (ie before 1 January 2015); or
- the woman has, before 1 January 2010, already conceived an offspring as a result of ART treatment using donated eggs or sperm from the donor and the egg or sperm is used to provide ART treatment to the woman within 3 years of the commencement (ie before 1 January 2013).