When choosing your sperm donor, one of the first things to consider is whether to go with a Non-ID Release or an ID Release Donor. The decision is very individual and can be affected by both personal preferences, beliefs, and the legislation in your treatment country.
Note that no matter if you choose a Non-ID Release or an ID Release Donor at Cryos, the donor has agreed not to seek contact with any children born from his donations.
Country restrictions regarding Non-ID Release or ID Release
Even after 70 years of sperm donation, the question of whether donors should be Non-ID Release or ID Release is still widely debated all over the world. This means that some countries allow you to use both ID Release and Non-ID Release Donors, while other countries only allow you to use one or the other.
To make sure you stay compliant with the local rules, we recommend that you check the regulations in your treatment country before deciding on your sperm donor. Usually, your fertility clinic can tell you which donor type is allowed for your treatment. Otherwise, Cryos’ Customer Care Team will be happy to help you on this matter.
What is a Non-ID Release Donor?
A Non-ID Release Donor (sometimes also referred to as an anonymous or closed donor) is non-contactable. This means that if you choose this type of donor, you or your child will never receive more information about him than what has already been disclosed in his sperm donor profile. We will never reveal the donor’s identity to you or your child.
The donor has made the choice of being Non-ID Release, and he has agreed not to contact any potential donor-conceived children. Likewise, when purchasing donor sperm from Cryos, you agree, through the Terms of Agreement, not to attempt to contact the donor in the future. Nevertheless, with today’s DNA-testing services, there is a possibility that children and donors will find each other, despite the donor being Non-ID Release. We understand that you may be curious to know more about your donor, but our advice is to hold back and respect that the donor has made a choice of being Non-ID Release and wishes to preserve his anonymity.
Why choose a Non-ID Release Donor?
There may be various reasons to choose a Non-ID Release Donor, such as:
- You prefer to know as little as possible about the donor.
- You do not wish for the donor to play any role in your child’s life other than the sperm donation.
- You may only be allowed to choose a Non-ID Release Donor due to regulations in your treatment country.
The decision between an ID Release or a Non-ID Release donor is very personal and only you know what the right decision for you is. If you want inspiration regarding your choice of donor profile, we can recommend reading our blog post where Megan and Whitney shares their tips to pick a sperm donor.
What is an ID Release Donor?
If you choose an ID Release Donor (sometimes also referred to as a non-anonymous or open donor) your child will have the opportunity to get identifying information about the donor from Cryos, when he or she turns 18. The donor has chosen to be ID Release and has agreed to be contacted by children conceived with the help of his donor sperm.
Although the donor has agreed to be contacted, we of course cannot guarantee or check whether the donor has changed his mind or whether he is accessible when the child reaches the age of 18.
To receive identifying information about the donor, the child must be able to document that he or she is the result of treatment with donor sperm from a specific Cryos ID Release Donor. When you have a child with donor sperm from Cryos, you can get a Donor Child Certificate, which your child can use to receive the identifying information about the donor after turning 18. If you would like a Donor Child Certificate for your child, you can contact our Customer Care Team who will send it to you by email.
The donor will never receive any information from Cryos about you as a client or your child. Therefore, it is completely up to the child whether he or she would like to seek contact with the donor or not.
Why choose an ID Release Donor?
The reason for choosing an ID Release Sperm Donor varies from person to person. In some countries, only ID Release Donors are allowed for fertility treatment.
Reasons for choosing an ID Release Donor could be:
- You prefer to give your child the opportunity to decide for himself/herself whether or not to try to reach out to the donor in the future.
- You may be curious to know more about the donor yourself. However, remember that it is up to your child – and not you – to decide if he or she wants to try to contact the donor.
- Your treatment country only allows ID Release Donors when doing fertility treatment.
By choosing an ID Release Donor, you provide your child with the possibility to know more about the donor than what has been enclosed in the donor profile. Whether your child wants to receive the identifying information about the donor is up to him or her. Some donor-conceived children would like to know as much as possible about their genetic heritage. In those cases, choosing an ID Release Donor will be a big help for your child. Other donor-conceived children may never even wish to contact the donor even though they may appreciate having the possibility to do so.
You can learn more about getting in contact with the sperm donor here.
The donor’s decision
All Cryos’ donors are either Non-ID Release or ID Release. When a donor starts donating sperm at Cryos, he is asked to decide whether he wants to be ID Release, and thereby agrees to potentially be contacted by donor-conceived children, or if he prefers to be Non-ID Release and wishes to stay anonymous. Once he has made his decision, it cannot be changed.
It is very important to us that each donor understands and feels comfortable with his decision – as it will have implications for both himself and the donor-conceived children. Before making his choice, the donor receives thorough information to help him with his decision. He also has the possibility of discussing his choice with our experienced Donor Coordinators, who will help him fully understand the implications of the choice he makes.