We provide support for donor conceived people, information on donor conception for current and prospective parents, donors and the wider community, and advocacy for nationally consistent legislation.

Donor Conceived Australia (DCA) prioritises the needs of donor conceived people. We provide support for donor-conceived people, information on donor conception for current and prospective parents, donors and the wider community, and advocacy for nationally consistent legislation.

Donor conception is a complex network of processes and people, each with their own focus, perceptions and bias.

Prospective parents and medical professionals such as GP’s, fertility specialists, and fertility counsellors focus on infertility and the goal of a successful pregnancy.

DCA focuses on the human born from the donor process and their needs. DCA works to ensure that every donor conceived person, their family and the community around them are informed about support frameworks, best practices and resources. By strengthening the connections within the donor conception network, no-one is left behind.

Donor conception in Australia has traditionally been shrouded in a web of deceit and lies. For decades, medical advice to recipient parents was to never tell the children how they were conceived. It’s now well documented that this is not best practice for a variety of emotional, psychological, self-identity and mental health reasons. However, parents of donor-conceived children being born today are still not mandated to tell their children.

There has been significant legislative and social progress in correcting past wrongs and mistakes when it comes to donor conception, but there is still a long way to go to ensure that future generations of donor conceived people are not disadvantaged due to something that is out of their control; the way they were conceived.

Support

DCA offers online and in-person support networks, including regular national support groups for donor conceived people to meet and discuss their experiences. DCA also offers referrals for donor conceived people seeking medical, legal, or other support to professionals with a lived experience of donor conception and experience working in this area.

Information

DCA actively works to inform the community about donor conception and the rights of people born of ART. We achieve this through our public-facing website, newsletter, webinars, social media channels, and media outreach team. These channels also provide information to healthcare providers who work with donor conceived individuals, and people considering conceiving a child using third-party reproduction.

Advocacy

DCA advocates for consistent legislation in the area of donor conception, whether that be through state-based or federal laws. DCA is guided by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (the CRC) and the Geneva Principles on Donor Conception and Surrogacy, which were provided to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child by donor conceived people on the 30th anniversary of the CRC.