Paris (AFP)

Why not accept that a child born in the LDC has access to his or her origins before the age of 18 or that those born of the same donation can know each other? MEPs debated at length Thursday access to the origins, making some changes to the bill bioethics.

Article 3 of the text, examined in a special committee, aims to allow children born of an LDC to have a majority of "non-identifying" data from their donor such as age or physical characteristics, even to know the identity of the donor (probably name, first name and date of birth).

Several elected officials hailed an "extraordinary advance" (Martine Wonner, LREM) or a response to a "deep need" in some children born of donations (Hervé Saulignac, PS), others, including the majority, posting their questions on this "complex" issue and pointing to a lack of "visibility" on its impact.

The co-rapporteur Coralie Dubost (LREM) and the Minister of Health Agnès Buzyn have several times clarified the philosophy of the text.

"Access to identity is not a right to meet, which could strike the life of the donor," Dubost said.

"We are in the place where we want to position the donor.They are not surrogate parents, or fathers or biological mothers, they are gamete donors," added Agnès Buzyn.

Several MPs like the former "walker" Mathieu Orphelin have proposed to allow access to the origins as early as 16 years, "as in Germany, Austria or the Netherlands".

Anne-France Brunet (LREM) would have liked all minors, with the consent of their parents, to access them.

"Compared to the child, it would take a risk," said his colleague Aurore Bergé, before the amendments were rejected.

Laurence Vanceunebrock-Mialon (LREM) has unsuccessfully proposed that children from donations may have information about other children from the same donor ("sibblings").

Marie Tamarelle-Verhaeghe (LREM) pleaded for her part so that the consent of the donor to the access to its identity intervenes at the time when the child adult makes the request, and not at the time of the donation to "take better into account the right to privacy ".

Among the adopted amendments, several of the co-rapporteur clarified the text, including on the tasks of the commission of access to non-identifying data and the identity of the donor, which will act as an "interface". The commission will be able to collect "proposals to change status for older donors who would like to enter the new legislation" and give their consent for access to the origins, said Ms. Buzyn.

© 2019 AFP