You have the right to donate your sperm or ovum (gamete) which may be later used in artificial reproduction for persons who cannot conceive a child themselves.
Donation & Private life
Your right to donate your sperm or ovum (gamete) is closely linked with your right to make any decisions regarding your body and your physical integrity freely. To a certain extent, there is also a choice involved in becoming a biological parent to a child one day, without having any relationship with him/her. Therefore, the right to donate your gamete is a part of your right to a private life.
Conditions
If you have freely made a decision to donate your sperm or ovum and this corresponds to certain conditions set by law, you may choose the most suitable authorized medical institution in which to undergo the donation procedure. This medical institution will retain the donated gametes. If you decide to donate more than one time, you must always donate in the same medical institution.
You must be of age to donate your gametes.
You should also be healthy and judicious. The state of your health will be specifically examined before the donation.
Written consent
Before the donation procedure, you will have to produce written consent to the medical institution in charge of the donation process.
You will be informed of different aspects of the donation, such as:
- retention of your gametes in a gamete donor bank
- use of your gametes for the purposes of artificial reproduction
- your data protection
- reimbursement of costs incurred during the donation procedure
You have the right to revoke your consent for the use of your gametes and prevent them from being used for artificial reproduction at any time before the artificial reproduction procedure has been begun. In such a situation, your gametes will be destroyed.
You are not entitled to receive any compensation for the donation.
Artificial reproduction
Donated gametes will be used later in artificial reproduction for persons for whom it is very difficult or impossible to conceive a child naturally. Until that time your sperm or ovum will be retained in a gamete donor bank.
Restrictions on the use of gametes & Destruction
There are certain restrictions on the use of donated gametes:
- gametes must not be used for commercial purposes
example Gametes must only be used for artificial reproduction. Their sale to other persons and/or institutions for other purposes, such as for scientific experiments, is prohibited.
- children may be born in maximum two families using gametes from the same donor
Infertility treatment and procedures of biomedically-assisted procreation act, provides the conditions in which the gametes you have donated must be destroyed. Such situations are, for example, if they are not useful for artificial reproduction anymore or the donor has revoked his/her consent for their use.
Anonymity & Data protection
Your personal data will be included and retained in the gamete donor register. This register is not publicly available.
Information related to gamete donation and their specific use for artificial reproduction is secret. Your identity will not be disclosed to the prospective parents, except for information on your genetic and anthropometric data, which cannot reveal your identity. Due to medical reasons, your personal information, stored in the gamete donor register, may be accessed by the child’s doctor.
You will not be able to obtain any information about the people who have chosen to undergo artificial reproduction using your gamete. The need to protect the secret of a donor’s identity also prohibits anyone involved from filing a request to determine the donor’s paternity (maternity).