Colorado first state to ban anonymous sperm and egg donations…

Gov. Jared Polis signed Senate Bill 224 into law Tuesday, which grants adults who were conceived through sperm or egg donations the right to seek information about the donor’s identity and medical history. The Denver Post first reported the news Wednesday.

The bill said gamete banks must collect and keep donor records, including identifying information and medical history, and that upon request, such information will be released to a donor-conceived adult, emancipated youth or their legal parent or guardian.

The gamete banks must also regularly request updated contact information and medical history every three years. Gamete banks cannot accept donations from potential donors who do not agree to reveal their identity once the donor-conceived person turns 18.

Furthermore, the law sets a global limit on the number of families that can use a donor, in an effort to reduce the chances that a donor-conceived person is born into mega sibling groups.

Banks that violate the rules could see their operating licenses revoked and face fines and civil penalties.

The law comes after Cheryl Emmons and seven other families in 2019 sued Dr. Paul Jones and Women’s Health Care of Western Colorado, the clinic where he worked.

The families said Jones fathered at least 17 children with 12 women between 1975 and 1997. Emmons said Jones fathered two of her daughters. She was awarded $8.75 million in April, and five other families reportedly settled for an undisclosed amount.

Jones, 83, of Grand Junction, was never charged with a crime, as it was not illegal in Colorado for doctors not to disclose a donor’s identity. That changed in 2020 when the state passed a law making it a felony crime for health care providers to knowingly use gametes from a donor without the patient’s consent.

The U.S. Donor Conceived Council applauded the law, tweeted Wednesday: “Proud & elated to announce that #history was made yesterday with the enactment of the Donor Conceived Persons & Families Protection Act (SB224); signed by CO governor @jaredpolis.”

“This is the first law in the US that abolishes anonymity in gamete donation by giving the donor conceived person the right to learn the donor’s identity when they turn 18, and the right to learn non-ID medical history before that,” the council said.