Some children conceived by IVF using anonymous donors report being troubled over not knowing about their donor parent as well any genetic relatives they may have and their family history.
Alana Stewart, who was conceived using donor sperm, began an online forum for donor children called AnonymousUS in 2010. The forum welcomes the viewpoints of anyone involved in the IVF process. Olivia Pratten, a donor-conceived Canadian, sued the province of British Columbia for access to records on her donor fathers identity in 2008. "Im not a treatment, Im a person, and those records belong to me," Pratten said. In May 2012, a court ruled in Prattens favour, agreeing that the laws at the time discriminated against donor children and making anonymous sperm and egg donation in British Columbia illegal.
In the U.K., Sweden, Norway, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, and some Australian states, donors are not paid and cannot be anonymous.
In 2000, a website called Donor Sibling Registry was created to help biological children with a common donor connect with each other.
In 2012, a documentary called Anonymous Fathers Day' was released that focuses on donor-conceived children.