Imagine growing up, looking in the mirror, and feeling like a piece of your story is missing. For thousands of Australians conceived through donor programs, this is a daily reality. This is the story of Katherine Dawson, who is searching for siblings she's never met, a quest highlighting the urgent need for a national donor conception register.
Katherine, now 35, is one of an estimated 60,000 Australians conceived through anonymous sperm donation. For years, she was denied information about her biological father and any potential siblings. "I was really blocked from knowing that information," she recalls. The feeling of not fully understanding her own identity was profound. "You see your face in the mirror, and it doesn't make sense — and as soon as you see this other side of your family, you can place things."
Driven by this desire for connection and a deeper understanding of her genetic heritage, Katherine began her search. She started by contacting clinics and undergoing ancestry DNA tests. Her efforts have already yielded results: she's confirmed 53 half-siblings spread across multiple states and even overseas. But here's where it gets controversial... she believes she could have as many as 700 siblings, some of whom may not even know they are donor-conceived.
Her search isn't just about finding family; it's also about health. She's desperately trying to connect with her siblings to share potentially life-saving medical information about an elevated cancer risk within their family. "I can't just sit back and go live my life and forget about it," she says. "We're strangers but we're siblings, and I care about them — but I'm not allowed to know them."
A Glimmer of Hope: South Australia's Donor Conception Register
South Australia has taken a pioneering step with its Donor Conception Register, launched in February last year. This register, the first of its kind in Australia to operate in real-time with retrospective effect, allows donor-conceived individuals and their parents to access information about donors and siblings. This includes names, dates of birth, and gender. The register even includes treatments carried out as far back as the 1970s and donations made before anonymity rules were changed in September 2004.
As of December 2025, the register had already included 428 individuals: 53 donors, 115 donor-conceived individuals, and 153 donor-recipient parents. The remaining profiles are for minors, with their personal information protected. SA Health emphasizes that the register is a tool for personal journeys, allowing individuals to share information like contact details or medical history.
Challenges and the Need for a National Approach
However, the process isn't without its hurdles. Finding historical records can be difficult, especially since some clinics have closed, and records can be damaged or missing. "Information about the donor, and those who received treatment, were even deliberately kept quite separately," explains Robyn Lindsay, SA Health's deputy chief executive. Verifying records with the Births, Deaths, and Marriages registry can also take months.
Katherine's story underscores the urgency. She met her biological father in 2023 and discovered he was a prolific donor. She hopes the register will help her connect with more siblings and warn them about the family's cancer risk. "There might be siblings I've got already that have developed bowel cancer, given some of them could be in their 40s now and they should be checking from their mid-20s," she says.
The call for a national register is growing.
Bec Kilday, another individual searching for her donor's identity, echoes this sentiment. She has been genetically linked to a Victorian donor and has already found 27 half-siblings. She joined the SA register, hoping to uncover more information for herself, her donor, and her Victorian-based siblings. A national register would streamline the process, eliminating the complexities of navigating different state regulations.
Australian Medical Association SA president Peter Subramaniam supports a national framework, recognizing that Australians move across state lines. He emphasizes the importance of data integrity and sensitivity in handling personal information.
The Path Forward
In September, a federal review highlighted the risks of unregulated donations and the absence of a national donor register. The report found that databases are managed independently and not linked, which compromises the ability of donor-conceived individuals to find or verify donors, siblings, or medical information. The federal health department has stated that ministers have agreed to explore options for harmonizing and modernizing relevant legislation nationally.
What do you think? Should Australia have a national donor conception register? Do you think it's important for donor-conceived individuals to have access to this information, even if it means potentially impacting the anonymity of donors? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
