Britain is to end anonymity for sperm and egg donors from next year, in an move that a fertility expert said could worsen the country's already critical shortage of donations.
Children conceived from donated eggs or sperm will have the right to track down their biological parents from the age of 18, public health minister Ms Melanie Johnson announced today.
"I firmly believe donor-conceived people have a right to information about their genetic origins that is currently denied them, including the identity of their donor," she said.
"Today's new regulations will...remove the major discrepancy that exists between the rights of donor-conceived people and those of adopted people," she added.
But Professor Ian Craft, director of the London Fertility Centre, said the move could have profound implications both on the supply of sperm and eggs and on donors themselves.
"Our evidence is that there is going to be a significant reduction in sperm and egg donation and provision," he said. "There is already an unbelievable shortage of donors."
Prof Craft asked whether any thought had been given to the effect of an infertile woman who could not afford In Vitro Fertilisation donating her eggs to a woman who could and, 18 years later when still childless, meeting the other woman's child. "The psychological impact on both the child and the woman could be devastating," he said.
Ms Johnson said donors would have no financial or legal responsibility for any children. She also noted that Sweden and the Netherlands had both seen donor numbers drop when they ended anonymity, but that they had since recovered.