"No reliable evidence on anonymous donors; Cases show that removal of anonymity can be successful "

Another excellent letter published on Timesonline (UK) by Professor Eric Blyth, Professor of Social Work, University of Huddersfield - in response to Dr. Evan Harris's letter (see previous blog post)

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/letters/article6736561.ece

From The Times August 3, 2009

"No reliable evidence on anonymous donors
Cases show that removal of anonymity can be successful

Sir, Dr Evan Harris (letter, July 30) claims that “experience from Scandinavia suggested that the loss of anonymity would lead to increased secrecy by parents over the fact that donated gametes had been used”. Contrary to Dr Harris’s claims, there is no reliable evidence to support such an assertion. While it is true that “experience from Scandinavia” did suggest possibly increased “use of . . . foreign-based services where anonymity was preserved”, two significant underlying factors accounting for this were the deliberate refusal of some existing fertility clinics to recruit identifiable donors and, second, the explicit policy of referring patients to other countries. Some fertility clinics in the UK have responded positively to the new challenges to donor recruitment posed by the removal of anonymity in the UK and their successes have been widely reported in the professional literature.

I agree that a vigorous debate is healthy. However, this can only be successful where all available evidence is fairly and accurately presented.

Professor Eric Blyth

Professor of Social Work,

University of Huddersfield "