It's an authority that facilitates the sometimes tricky and emotionally charged path of connecting donor-conceived people and their donors in Victoria - now the service is set to be closed down, in a move that should concern all donors and recipient families.
The Victorian Assisted Reproductive Treatment Authority (VARTA) is due to be abolished later this year, under legislation currently before the state parliament.
Under the move, VARTA'S donor-linking service, which facilitates mediated meetings between donors and their offspring with their consent, will be closed.
Instead, donors and donor-conceived people wanting to meet will need to connect via an online voluntary register.
It's a moved being widely condemned by donors and donor recipient families.
There are a lot of things to consider when meeting your child’s donor. What are your expectations? Is your child ready? How will you talk to child about a situation where their donor does not want to meet them? How will the relationships be managed?
Without VARTA’s expert advice, things can go wrong very quickly. Some mums have connected with their donor only to find that their boundaries differ; given that some donors may have donated under the promise of anonymity, some may be hostile or anxious now that changed laws have removed that anonymity.
Under the plan, regulation for IVF will fall under the remit of the Health Department, which oversees health regulation as well as things like tobacco, food safety and pest control.
Advocates say that donor linking is a highly specialist area, which requires specialist knowledge and expertise, and handing over management of it to a generalist health authority will harm vulnerable people.
Under the proposal, counselling will be “replaced with a requirement that the Donor Conception Registrar provide prescribed information to the person which will cover matters currently required to be covered during mandated counselling.”
Donor recipient families are campaigning to save VARTA, saying that counselling support required by their families go well beyond the dispensing of “prescribed information”.
If you want VARTA to continue to operate its internationally-recognised specialist donor linking services in Victoria, the email the Health Department's Legislative and Regulatory Reform Team at legandregreform@health.vic.gov.au.
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