Seanad debates

Thursday, 26 March 2015

Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage

 

10:30 am

Photo of Averil PowerAveril Power (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister has given her response to amendment No. 22. I have not yet spoken to it. Earlier, I referred to the general issue of a donor-conceived person having access to as much information as possible on his or her genetic history. As the Minister stated, much of this information is already collected by the clinics. For that reason, I do not accept that it would deter donations. People are already giving this information.

The issue here is around access. The Minister stated it is made available to parents but I strongly believe that the donor-conceived person, particularly when he or she reaches the age of 18, as an individual and adult, should have an entitlement to this information because it is his or her identity. Of course, one would hope that in most cases the parents would want to give their child as much information as possible on his or her genetic history but, unfortunately, our experience of adoption is that does not always happen. Some have found out that they are adopted when they were 40, 50 or 60 years of age, and their parents had never told them. One would like to think that everybody would deal with this appropriately but it is only right that the donor-conceived person would have a right to this information. This should not be at the whim of his or her parents. It should not be down to parents to control that information. The donor-conceived person should have an entitlement to it. The information is not accessible. As I stated, most of it would be there already and collected by clinics.

I also make the distinction between information and contact. In the adoption scenario, many merely want information. Such persons have no intention of ever having contact with their natural parents but they want to have their medical history. They want to have some information on where they have come from but they do not necessarily want to have any form of relationship or contact. While I appreciate that these are different issues, our experience of adoption should inform our understanding of this area. The Minister states if they want information, and if they do not get it from their parents at the age of 18, they can contact the donor and look for it. That is not good enough. They should not have to contact the donor and look for it. Some want information and contact. Some will only want information. We should be providing for that, particularly where the information is already there - it is held by the clinics. I do not understand why one would withhold that from the individual, particularly where the donor can see the person has reached the age of 18.

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