IGS Seminar, “Family Building by Donor Conception and Donor Linking“

Dates：Wednesday 9 SEP 2020, 12:15-13:45 (JST)
Online Seminar（zoom webinar）

Abstract：
Consistent with the view that donor-conceived people benefit from having access to identifying information about their sperm and egg donors, a growing number of countries including Australia have introduced laws that mandate identity-release donors. Donor linking is the process by which sperm and egg donors, recipient parents and donor-conceived people gain access to identifying information about each other. The state of Victoria, Australia is unique in that its donor-linking laws allow all donor-conceived adults, donors, recipient parents and descendants of donor-conceived people to apply for information about each other. At the same time, it is increasingly common for donor-conceived adults and recipient parents in Australia to locate sperm donors and siblings conceived from the same donor through use of do-it-yourself methods such as direct to consumer genetic testing and social media.
In this seminar, based on early findings from our Australian Research Council funded project into donor-linked families, I consider how and why Australians undertake a search for a donor relative using both government-funded registers and DIY strategies. I discuss the strengths and challenges of the Victorian model of donor linking along with the information and support needs of donor-conceived adults, recipient parents (mostly single mothers by choice) and sperm donors.

Speaker ：	Deborah Dempsey（Swinburne University of Technology, AUS) “Families of Strangers? Donor-linked families in Victoria, Australia “
Moderator：	Yukari Semba (IGS, Ochanomizu University)

Prior registration required, Registration Form　
Language: English, consecutive interpretation (Naoki Matsumura, Colts Works)

Organizer: Institute for Gender Studies (IGS), Ochanomizu University