Anonymity of gamete donation and genetic testing

L’anonymat du don de gamètes à l’heure des tests génétiques

Anne-Sophie Neyroud (1) , Mélanie Roche (2) , Mathilde Domin (2) , Sylvie Jaillard (1) , Célia Ravel (1)

1 Irset - Institut de recherche en santé, environnement et travail
2 Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Rennes [CHU Rennes] = Rennes University Hospital [Ponchaillou]

Development of genetic testing direct-to-consumer (DTC) for recreational purposes, although prohibited in France, is a real challenge to the current practice of gamete donation. Indeed, anonymity is a fundamental principle contributing to the ethics of donation. This principle is weakened due to the availability to the general public of these tests on the Internet. Several thousands of people are conceived by gamete donation worldwide, some of whom do not know how they were conceived. Gamete donors should be informed that their anonymity is no longer guaranteed, as they can be found by homologies of their DNA, or that of a parent or a child, potentially available in databases. Thus, adults conceived by gamete donation but not informed by their parents can discover their way of conception. Recipients of gamete donation should also be informed that their child's DNA will establish the biological discrepancy and they should be encouraged to disclose the conception to their child. Several countries now allow children conceived by donation to obtain donor's identity. In France, the Bioethics Law is currently being finalized and will now allow access to donor's identity for people conceived by gamete donation.

Mots clés: anonymity; gamete donation; genetic testing

Mots clés: test génétique; anonymat; don de gametes

Domaines: Gynécologie et obstétrique; Ethique

Anne-Sophie Neyroud, Mélanie Roche, Mathilde Domin, Sylvie Jaillard, Célia Ravel. L’anonymat du don de gamètes à l’heure des tests génétiques. Gynécologie Obstétrique Fertilité & Sénologie, 2020, 48 (11), pp.820-826. ⟨10.1016/j.gofs.2020.06.006⟩. ⟨hal-02888916⟩