Taking the anonymity out of sperm donation
Posted October 25, 2010 8:16 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – A landmark lawsuit is heading to BC Supreme Court today that could have broad implications for artificial insemination in this country.
Olivia Pratten was conceived with the help of a sperm donor at a Vancouver clinic 28 years ago. And today she’s suing to have the BC Adoption Act declared unconstitutional, as it allows adoptees access to information about their parents but not granted to people born through artificial insemination.
“I want to know where I come from because it’s about identity. It’s like missing the first chapter in the story of your life. How much of who I am or what I look like or what I do relates to somebody who gave me half of my genes? I can’t answer that unless I know all the information.”
Pratten adds, “People don’t choose to be infertile but they do make a choice when deciding whether or not to do this and donors choose to be donors but the resulting children don’t choose.”
Civil liberties lawyer Joseph Arvay is arguing the case on Pratten’s behalf. He expects it to go all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada before it’s done.
