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Open Donation: An Intriguing Option
Egg donation might be celebrated as the most sought after reproduction option of the twenty-first century. It affords thousands of couples the opportunity to have children without having to forego the birth experience and the chance to preserve some genetic link to their hoped for child. Medical practices providing egg donation services and agencies promising to find the 'right' egg donor for couples in need have proliferated in recent years.
Many of these donor programs have followed in the tradition of sperm banking where anonymity and secrecy is de rigueur. With little precedent established for matching donor and recipient, many facilitators are writing their own rulebook concerning policies regarding donation policies and protocols.
Advocates of non-anonymous donation where you actually meet the selected donor has been previously considered blasphemy. Open donation was heeded as an attempt to undermine family values and challenge parental rights and ties. The widespread philosophical bent of secrecy and hidden identification discouraging the introduction of donors and recipients has been passively accepted by those so eager. Couples have been led to believe that they have no choice in the matter.
Hopeful recipients have not been given an opportunity to explore whether anonymous donation is truly in their best interests. Recipients have been convinced that if they never meet or know their donor they and their child will fare better. The claim is that a non-anonymous arrangement would only serve as a disruptive influence on the family further encouraging disassociation. It would interfere with the mother's struggle of entitlement to know full well she is the 'real' or authentic mother. Moreover, the veiled threat is that once a donor is revealed to the recipients, she will always be haunted by her presence and unable to erase the donor's image from her mind's eye.
Another often touted rationale for extolling anonymity is the fear that the donor will be an intrusive influence and want to participate in the child's life or, worst yet, lay claim to the child. Indications in the world of non-anonymity refute this claim saying it is preposterous. Other recipients are troubled by the issue of privacy and feel they would be obligated to disclose to others their reproductive history.
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