From an egg donor recipient:
“I asked our fertility clinic to send out information to the other egg donor recipients – to let them know about the DSR and to let them know that at least one egg donor recipient wishes to find any half siblings who were conceived from the same egg donor. The egg donor coordinator related that she checked with her physicians who have decided at this time, since it is an anonymous program, that they are not going to send out any information to the other egg donor recipients. The egg donor said that she can’t guarantee that the clinic will ever do something like that, but there are changes happening in the industry and maybe at some point this kind of information will be given to egg donor recipients. She said that she believes that most egg donor recipients are “savvy” about all aspects of egg donation and most likely know about the DSR site and will look at it if they wish to do so.
The egg donor coordinator did say that she will forward any letter I write to her anonymously to the egg donor. When the clinic receives the letter they try to find the egg donor – she moved without giving them a new address and they are not sure where she is at this point.”
This egg donation coordinator’s response on behalf of the physicians was disturbing, but very insightful. How many clinics lose track of their egg donors? Why wouldn’t they want their donors and recipient families to have the choice of mutual consent contact on the DSR? It’s important for people to understand before choosing a clinic or agency that some are very closed when it comes to the issues and rights of the families and the donors and how important it might be for families to contact each other. Our published research indicated that more than 63% of egg donors felt that they were not adequately educated by their clinics and that 97% of them were never contacted for an updated medical record.