Donor children - update following the federal coalition agreement for 2025-2029

In our article of 6 November 2024, we discussed the ruling of the Constitutional Court of 26 September 2024, and its consequences. 

This ruling states that the current legal provisions regarding professional secrecy and the anonymity of sperm donors should no longer result in a donor child being unable to obtain any identifying or non-identifying information from the fertility center.

The new federal coalition agreement for 2025-2029 acknowledges this and states that "knowing one's own origins can be important for the identity formation of donor children."

Therefore, according to the coalition agreement, the anonymity of sperm and egg donors will be abolished for the future. For donations made in the past, a transitional measure will be sought, in line with the aforementioned ruling of the Constitutional Court, to establish a fair balance between donor children, intended parents, and donors.

If the anonymity of sperm and egg donors from the past is not abolished, we believe this does not prevent existing donor children from going to court. For this, we refer to our article of 6 December 2024.

What the transitional measure will specifically entail is not yet known. The legislator has until 30 June 2027, to address this matter.

We will continue to monitor further developments. If you have any questions regarding this topic, please do not hesitate to contact our specialists at info@be.Andersen.com or +32 (0)2 747 40 07.