Report finds IVF-born Aussies are at ‘increasing risk’ of unknowingly having kids with their siblings

Experts have called for an overhaul of Victoria’s fertility sector after a report found Australians born via IVF are at an ‘increasing risk’ of unknowingly having kids with their siblings.

Children of “prolific” IVF donors are at an “increasing risk” of unknowingly having kids with their own siblings under Australia’s patchwork regulation of the fertility sector, a new report has warned.

Patients have also turned to the dangerous donor black market after various “well-intentioned” laws drove up costs or other barriers, according to a review, commissioned by the Fertility Society of Australia and New Zealand.

Former Health Minister Greg Hunt and public health expert Dr Rachel Swift led the review and called for uniform laws to overhaul a system that varies across state and territory lines and is governed by more than 40 pieces of legislation.

A report has found children of ‘serial donors’ are at an ‘increasing risk’ of unknowingly having children with their siblings.

They made 34 recommendations and urged governments to create a national fertility plan with uniform laws, a single donor registry, a national bank and a new research fund.

States and clinics track and limit their donors but a national list would help protect against “serial donors”, such as the Dutch man who hit headlines this year for fathering hundreds of kids, including here, via legitimate and unregulated donations.

“Differences in donor laws and the lack of a national register means that there is an increasing risk of children of serial or prolific donors unknowingly meeting and potentially patterning and having children of their own as adults,” the report said.

“This should be a single national health standard for egg and sperm donation.”

Experts have urged governments to create a national fertility plan following the findings of the report. Picture: iStock

The report also called for a new committee with greater powers to take action against clinics, bolstered by $4 million in funding — split equally between industry and government – a year.

It said the current industry-funded, national committee that accredited IVF clinics had its independence questioned and would need more resources to investigate complaints as the sector grew.

Fertility Society president Dr Petra Wale said many issues around serial donors were “historical”, when it was harder to trace people electronically, but “we certainly need to recognise the vulnerabilities”.

“That national donor registry would go a long way to be able to help against that,” she said.

The report suggested a national donor registry to help protect against ‘serial donors’. Picture: Supplied

The report said the national bank and standards would also reduce Australia’s reliance on imported, at-times difficult to trace donations, while uniform laws would cut costs for patients.

Dr Wale said Australia already “had one of the world’s safest and most successful IVF sectors”, and we “did not need 40 different pieces of legislation”.

“There is a pressing need to unify the disparate legislative frameworks across Australia,” she said.

“We’d like it (this technology) to be as accessible and as affordable as possible.”

The society, representing healthcare workers, scientists and researchers in the field, released the report on Sunday at the group’s national conference.

Dr Rachel Swift said the sector played a vital role in helping so many people become parents.

“We can take action now to ensure the system is well placed to continue to help those who

seek support in this journey well into the future and I urge all involved to act on these

Recommendations,” she said.