IN SEARCH OF DONOR RELATIONS AND IDENTITY: THE MISSING VOICES OF ISRAEL'S CHILDREN

The voices of donor offspring and their families are missing from the debate regarding gamete donor anonymity v. openness in Israel, their unique predicament unheeded. Despite a context of worldwide change, various fears and myths impede the outlawing of donor anonymity, with Israel's medical establishment and legal representatives invested in maintaining a status quo characterized by regulations that discriminate between families whose members know their biological parents/siblings and those who do not. The most prominent of these is that abolishing anonymity leads to long-term shortage of donors, despite well-documented evidence to the contrary. A review of key research findings regarding the particular needs and experiences of offspring, recipients and donors clearly supports the need for a well thought-out re-evaluation of persistent fears and myths via the prism of grassroots reality. This evidence-based approach can lead to the formulation of recommendations that should facilitate, reflect and constitute such policy change.