There are two major sources, anonymous donors and donation by a friend or relative in which case the donor and the recipient are known to each other.

Anonymous donors can be altruistic donors. These are women who for altruistic reasons wish to donate oocytes and who have been recruited from throughout the community. This group may include friends and relatives of recipient couples who wish to donate but not in the known situation.

The decision to donate or receive donor oocytes is a serious one, which will have legal and social implications for all parties involved. Issues associated with telling the child born as a result of donation and access to information require careful consideration.

The current federal legal position regarding the status of children born through the use of donor oocytes is that the birth mother is the legal mother.

Although all donors are screened for infectious disease, the tests do not and cannot guarantee 100 per cent freedom from infection. There are, however, no known cases of transmission of infection through oocyte donation.

Many units have elected to freeze all embryos resulting from oocyte donation and quarantining for six months. The donor will be rescreened after the six month quarantine period. Embryo transfer will only take place should the results of the screens be negative.