In Finland, it has for several years no longer been possible to donate gametes anonymously.
The Act on Assisted Fertility Treatments, which entered into force in September 2007, requires that all donors be registered in a database maintained by the Finnish Supervisory Agency. The register contains the donor's first and last name, date of birth and nationality. Even before 2007, donors could consent to having their details recorded, but back then, it was voluntary.
The first children conceived under the current regulatory framework will turn 18 this year. According to the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), 402 children were born as a result of treatments using donated gametes in 2007.
Antti Perheentupa, a reproductive medicine expert at Turku University Hospital, said that the reform initially caused widespread concern within the field.
"We thought that no one would want to become a donor anymore. For a time, the number of donors did drop, but when we spoke publicly in the media about the problem, the situation improved," he said
According to Perheentupa, the rationale for banning anonymous donation was that children conceived this way should have the right to know about their genetic background and biological origins.
Perheentupa said it is difficult to estimate how many will choose to exercise the right to find out the identity of their donor.
Today, around 800 children are born in Finland each year with the help of donated sperm and egg cells.
