Identification mark for children conceived by donation?

Anger is growing over proposals to use a special mark on the birth certificate to identify babies born from sperm or egg donation.

The plan has been slammed, with some critics describing it as being 'branded if you came from a sperm donor'. Others are concerned that the information will be available for all to see, whenever a birth certificate is produced as a means of identification - applying for a student loan, for example.

The head of the Care Fertility Unit at Park Hospital, Nottingham has pointed out that 'it really would single out people' and a spokesman for the Donor Conception Network commented how 'terrible would it be for a child to learn about his or her conception from a birth certificate.'

There are also fears that the move would further discourage the dwindling number of donors - in 2006, only 307 new sperm donors registered.

Nevertheless, the amendment to the Human Tissue & Embryology Bill has influential supporters such as fertility expert, Baroness Warnock, who are concerned that parents may 'deceive' their children about whether or not they are biologically-related.

At present, there is no legal obligation for parents to tell their children whether or not sperm or egg donation was used for their conception, although anyone over 18 can request details about their genetic parents from the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority. However, a survey of the members of the Donor Conception Network found that 99% of parents would tell their child the truth about their biological origins but the majority would not share this information with the register office because they considered it to be private.

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