There are unknown numbers of Victorian people conceived as the result of donor conception practices. The great majority are unaware of their donor conception status whilst others have been informed of the circumstances of their conception.
In many instances, families have withheld from the child/children the truth concerning their donor conception as it has been, in the recent past, difficult for such families to find adequate support to deal with issues of disclosure.
In some circumstances, a donor conception involves IVF treatment, although it is more commonly a simpler procedure of clinical insemination.
Perinatal & Reproductive Epidemiology Research Unit (PRERU)
In 2010, there were 61,774 ART treatment cycles undertaken in Australian and New Zealand. Of these cycles, 23.9% resulted in a clinical pregnancy and 18.1% resulted in a live delivery (the birth of at least one liveborn baby). There were 12,180 babies (including 12,056 liveborn) born following ART treatment in 2010. http://www.preru.unsw.edu.au/PRERUWeb.nsf/page/ANZARD
The Victorian Assisted Reproductive Treatment Authority (VARTA) provides resources for fertility and issues related to assisted-reproductive treatment. This includes IVF, surrogacy and donor-conception. http://www.varta.org.au//homepage/i2/
VANISH can offer support to people affected by donor conception by way of referral to the Victorian Assisted Reproductive Treatment Authority (VARTA) which holds information regarding current Victorian legislation relating to the identification of donor parents. The VARTA registers ART providers under the Act and provides public education on a range of fertility and ART issues. www.varta.org.au
VANISH can also provide individual support for people affected by donor conception. People affected by donor conception are also welcome to participate in the appropriate VANISH support group.