Gamete donation: anti-anonymity does not equate to anti-donation

Hum Reprod Open. 2022 Oct 4;2022(4):hoac041. doi: 10.1093/hropen/hoac041. eCollection 2022.

Abstract

What is the relationship between the position that anonymous gamete donation is wrong (i.e. the anti-anonymity position) and the position that all gamete donation is wrong (i.e. the anti-donation position)? Some argue that people who accept the anti-anonymity position should also accept the anti-donation position on the grounds that the two positions share the same main arguments. But that's not true. One argument in favor of anti-anonymity does not generate genuine dialectical pressure to accept the anti-donation position. The other anti-anonymity arguments do generate dialectical pressure, but not in a way that pushes toward the anti-donation position. Instead, they push toward what we might call the 'pro-known-donation' position. So, either there is no dialectical pressure or, where there is, it doesn't flow toward the anti-donation position.

Keywords: anonymity; bionormativity; donor conception; donor-conceived person; family; lived-experience; reproductive ethics; right to know.