In this next article of our series discussing parental responsibility I discuss egg donation and who has parental responsibility if an egg is donated.
What is egg donation?
Egg donation is when a woman has some of her eggs collected, which she can donate to another woman to enable them to have a child. A partner’s sperm can be used or a sperm donor can be sourced.
Does the egg donor have parental responsibility?
No. The egg donor has no legal rights or responsibilities to children born from an egg donation. They have no say over the child’s upbringing and won’t be required to pay anything towards their care.
However, children born from an egg donation will be able access identifying details which can allow them to contact their donor in the future, if they wish to. If they do choose to do this, the donor and child will have to decide whether they want to have any kind of relationship.
Does the birth mother have parental responsibility?
Yes. The mother who gave birth to the child will have parental responsibility for them if they have used a donor’s egg.
Does anyone else have parental responsibility in egg donation?
If the birth mother and father are married, they will both have parental responsibility for the child.
If the birth mother and female partner are married or in a civil partnership at the time of artificial insemination, they will both have parental responsibility for the child.
Sperm donors can have parental responsibility in some situations which we will discuss in a separate article.
This article is part of a series on Parental Responsibility. If you would like to learn more about Parental Responsibility, please click here for the full series.