Federal Inquiry into Donor Conception Practices

What does an Inquiry do?
Parliamentary Inquiries look into areas where it is felt that change needs to be made. In order to effect change this Inquiry into donor conception is asking for submission from any interested parties including parents, donor conceived
children & adults, & donors. Submissions can also be made by any other
person who has an interest in the issues. It is this community consultation which will help to inform the members of the Inquiry & may well lead to new legislation.

This Inquiry will investigate donor conception practices at all levels both past & present & ways to improve the outcomes for all concerned.

The recommendations from this enquiry could form the basis for federal
legislation that could ensure all donor offspring both past & present be treated equally.

This opportunity for all parents, donor conceived people & donors to express their wishes & help shape the future of legislation will never happen again.

Whatever comes out as a result of this inquiry WILL AFFECT YOU & YOUR FAMILY no matter what state you live in.

The Terms of Reference of the Inquiry are:

That the following matter be referred to the Legal and

Constitutional Affairs References Committee for inquiry and report by

30 November 2010:

The past and present practices of donor conception in Australia, with particular reference to:

(a) donor conception regulation and legislation across federal and state jurisdictions;

(b) the conduct of clinics and medical services, including:

(i) payments for donors,

(ii) management of data relating to donor conception, and

(iii) provision of appropriate counselling and support services;

consanguine relationships; and

(d) the rights of donor conceived individuals.

If you can look at http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/legcon_ctte/inquiries.htm . If you do not have access to the internet contact us & we can send you further information.

How do we make a Submission?
Submissions can be:

Anonymous
Of any length
Written or in person
Electronic - you can upload on the Senate website (address above) or you can email it as an attachment to legcon.sen@aph.gov.au.
Mail - send to:

Committee Secretary,

Senate Legal & Constitutional Committee,

PO Box 6100,

Parliament House,

Canberra ACT 2600,

Australia

A submission can be as simple as a short letter or as lengthy as you choose.
About positive experiences as well as issues that concern you
Made by ANYONE who has an interest in the issues
If you make a submission & then want to add more information you can make another submission

Parents could write about:

What information you have from the clinic about the donor & how you got it.
What information you feel you need to have for your children as they grow & ask questions.
The challenges of parenting a donor conceived child
What changes you feel need to be made in order to help your family & other donor conceived families.

Donor Conceived People (you may make a submission no matter how old you are) could write about:

Your experiences of growing up as a donor conceived person
What information you have about you donor & half siblings & how this affects you
What changes you feel need to be made

Donors could write about

Your experiences of donating.
What information you have about the results of your donation/s
What changes you feel need to be made

Please remember these are only suggestions to get you started, if you already have your own ideas, congratulations, you are well on your way.

While the Committee says that submissions are accepted until July 30th 2010 they are happy to receive late submissions.

We have just been informed (17th August) that it is up to a decision of the Senate Committee after the election whether there will be public hearings. We have also been informed that public hearings are by invitation only and have been told If you make a submission, the committee may invite you to give evidence at a public hearing.

This makes it vital that you make written submissions before the end of August!!!!!

How can I get help with my submission?

The DCSG is willing to give information & support to anyone who wants to make a submission.
Please do not hesitate to get in contact with us if you need help with your submission or just want further information
Caroline dcsupport@hotmail.com or home phone (02) 9624 5110If you are still really struggling about what to write you may use the form letter below to help you, it can be altered to suit your individual situation and then submitted straight to the committee. Please only use this as a last resort. While this is an easy way to make a submission a totally individual submission would be even better.

The letter below is just a sample of a very brief submission that could be used to get you started. It is important that you also tell the Committee about your own personal experiences. Remember you can request that your submission is confidential.

To the Senate Inquiry into the Past & Present Practices of Donor Conception in Australia,

As a parent of donor conceived children/ donor conceived person/ donor I feel that all donor conceived people should have access to information about their donor no matter which state or territory in Australia they were born and no matter when they were born.

In the current situation donor conceived people are the only group of people in Australia who have information about their biological parentage deliberately kept from them by organisations and governments.

The denial of this information can be psychologically harmful to donor conceived people. It may also be detrimental to their physical wellbeing by preventing them from having a full family medical history.

I ask that the Committee recommends that the Federal Government enacts legislation to give all Australian Donor Conceived People the right to have access to all available information on their donors.