Two donor-conceived persons, Ditte and Nette, have filed a legal actain against the Danish state, claiming that the current law which allows anonymous donations violates their human rights, specifically their right to family life.

Until 2012, Denmark only allowed anonymous donations. Nowadays, Danish laws allow open and anonymous donations. Prospective parents can chose if they want an anonymous or an open donor. In general, open donations are more expensive.

Nette, one of the claimants, was conceived 29 years ago by an anonymous sperm donation. She only knows height, weight, eye color and blood type of her genetic father. She asks herself the same questions as many other donor conceived persons: Where do I come from? What have I inherited? Why did my genetic father donate?

The lawsuit argues that Danish law contravenes Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Articles 3, 7, and 8 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (more on the right of a person to know their origin under international law). It claims that Denmark is obliged to ensure a child’s right to identity. This includes avoiding unnecessary obstacles to a child’s access to information about their genetic origin, as the state has a positive obligation to actively ensure that donor children also have access to information about their biological origin. However, Danish law does not secure a donor child’s access to information about their genetic origin by still allowing anonymous donations. The child is therefore deprived of any possibility of gaining access to information about their biological parents. In the case of Nette and Ditte, this means that they cannot obtain information about their biological fathers.

Many neighbour contries like Sweden, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands and France have already changed their laws and allow only open donations. Last year, the Belgian constitutional court decided that anonymous sperm and egg donations violate the rights of donor conceived persons and that the law must be amended.

The case could also change the law in Denmark. This would directly improve the rights of the approximately 20.000 children conceived through egg and sperm donation in Denmark. As Danish sperm is shipped to many other countries and many parents are also coming to Denmark to buy sperm and eggs, it could also improve the rights of many donor conceived persons in other countries. A final ruling can be estimated in two years.

The claimants would be very thankful for any support for their legal action, as the lawsuit is a major financial burden for them.

You can send your contribution to the the account of the Danish association of donor conceived persons „Donorbørns Vilkår“ on Mobilepay: 292267 or by bank transfer to Reg. nr: 5364, konto nr: 0244922, IBAN: DK4753640000244922. Your help is very much appreciated.

You can find more information on the project on Donorbørns Vilkår’s website or on their instagram and facebook pages.