Adoption Act, legal parenthood shifts from the biological parents to the adoptive parent(s). The law provides a legal  mechanism for the biological parents to relinquish their legal parenthood – by  consenting to the adoption – where the adoptive parent(s) agree to take on that responsibility. Once an adoption is complete, the adoptive parent(s) are the legal parents of the child, and the biological parents cease to be legal parents. This legal parenthood is reflected in all aspects of the law. Although legally speaking there may be no difference between known and anonymous donors, in practice anonymity is a primary way that intended parents reach the same on-the-ground result as adoption. If a donor is anonymous, a single mother of a child born in British Columbia can declare that the father is unknown and no information about the father will appear on the birth registration. If the mother is in a relationship, the mother can include a co-parent on the registration (see http://www.vs.gov.bc.ca/births/breg.html ). The intended mother, and her co-parent if she has one, will effectively be recognized as the child’s legal parent(s). A recent B.C. Supreme Court case would require the B.C. legislature to extend to donor offspring the same rights to information about their biological offspring as adoptees, thereby stripping some of the anonymity from sperm and egg donation (see my blog post “BC Court declares an end to anonymous sperm donation” about Pratten v. British Columbia (A.G.)). The case highlights the mechanisms that allow adoptees to obtain information about their biological origins, particularly as adults. What is not discussed in the case – because it was not the question before the courts – is that the information sharing mechanisms of adoption only work because they exist along with the shift in legal parenthood which is the heart of adoption. Once an adoption is complete, adoptive parents have some certainty about their status as the only legal parents of the child. This is recognized as being in the best interests of the children. No (or only very rare) adoptive parents would adopt children in B.C. if their parental status was not certain. I would argue that creating a legal mechanism for a donor to relinquish legal parenthood at the time of donation, prior to conception, in favour of the intended parent(s) is an essential part of any law reform dealing with gamete donation. This could include a mechanism for the intended parent(s) using donated sperm to formally accept full parental responsibility. This would create certainty about legal parenthood and reflect the intention of donor(s) who choose to assist others to have children but never planned to parent those children. It would provide some comfort to donors about the implications of any law reform providing for more open information disclosure. It would encourage more people to consider using known donors or being known donors. For the children conceived by sperm donation, predictability and stability of the intended family unit in childhood and the increased ability to obtain information about their biological origins, including identity disclosure in adulthood, are in their best interests. * This post deals with sperm donation, but the mechanism could also apply to egg donors.]]>