Sir, Colin Campbell (letter, September 21) does not mention two other highly adverse effects of the regulations abolishing the anonymity of sperm and egg donors.

As a consequence of this legislation, more couples undergoing these treatments state their firm intention to keep the method of conception secret from any child. This will inevitably be serious for some offspring, who years later — perhaps after acrimony during the break-up of their parents’ marriage — will be deeply disturbed to discover accidentally that one of their parents is not genetically related to them.

It also means that a woman donating eggs to another infertile woman during her own treatment may learn years later after her own treatment has failed that she has a genetic child of whose existence she was not aware.

Sadly, since Sir Colin’s wise leadership, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) failed to consider these concerns seriously and the advice it gave to government over donor identity was flawed.

PROFESSOR LORD WINSTON
Institute of Reproductive and Developmental Biology
Imperial College London

Sir, My father donated his sperm anonymously and I have grown into an adult whose daily life is full of sadness because his identity is withheld from me.

It is ethically unjustifiable to solve a woman’s need for genetically related children (letter, Sept 21) by denying those same children the knowledge of their genetically related father.

Sperm donation is mistakenly seen as advantageous. Unfortunately, the truth is more complex. The current legislation is vital in making sure that future people conceived in this way will avoid the terrible fate that has befallen me.

TOM ELLIS
Cambridge

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