If you are donor-conceived, learn about South Australia’s Donor Conception Register (DCR), the law changes, your right to access information about your DCR connections, and how to register to get access and support.
Knowing one’s genetic heritage has many health and wellbeing benefits and can be lifechanging. It’s also the fundamental human right of every person, regardless of how or when they were conceived.
If you are donor-conceived, you may be curious about your parent’s donor(s) and any donor-conceived siblings.
The Assisted Reproductive Treatment Act 1988 and associated Regulations (donor conception laws) changed in South Australia on 26 February 2025 to create a publicly accessible DCR.
The DCR is a secure online portal for DCR participants and DCR users. Applications to request access to certain DCR information in limited circumstances may be possible.
The DCR provides a safe and supportive environment designed to balance a donor-conceived person’s right to know their genetic heritage with a donor’s privacy.
The DCR uses information from South Australian assisted reproductive treatment (ART) records dating back to the 1970s (where available) to connect people who are linked to a donor conception treatment in our state, that resulted in the birth of a child.
The DCR is not searchable. Your connections are automatically linked to you in the DCR with access provided to your connection’s information in accordance with the law.
The DCR does not offer DNA testing.
If you are donor-conceived, you can access the DCR as a DCR user if you:
As a DCR participant and DCR user, your connections will include:
Donor-conceived siblings must also have been born as a result of an ART (donor conception) treatment in South Australia, and their birth registered with the South Australian BDM.
To learn more visit DCR Access Matrix 2 - for donor-conceived people (PDF 238KB).
With South Australian law change, you now have the right to access certain information about your connections (where information is available) on the DCR.
As a DCR user, the DCR provides you with:
You don’t need to know your parent’s donor(s) unique donor code to access the DCR.
If you are a DCR participant but under the age of 18 years please refer to more information below under the heading Donor-conceived people aged under 18.
Not all historic ART records are available due to record-keeping practices in past decades.
If you want to access information about a donor conception treatment prior to September 2004, information may be missing because:
These gaps where information has not been found means that for some DCR users, the DCR will not contain the information they hoped to find.
If this is you, the Donor Conception Register Support Service (DCRSS) can undertake a further check of information and records on your request, which may help fill the gaps in the DCR. You can request this in the DCR.
Download the DCR Fact Sheet – Historical donor conception information and support – for donor-conceived people (PDF 342KB).
To learn more visit:
If you were conceived before September 2004, and were previously unaware you were donor-conceived and/or have been unable to access your genetic heritage information, you (and your family) could be experiencing emotional distress. You may need support as the result of:
To learn more and get the support you need from the DCRSS visit I was conceived before September 2004.
Providing access to your identifying information does not guarantee personal contact as DCR users are required to set their contact preferences to let each other know if they are open to contact or not.
The DCR will not disclose:
To learn more download DCR Fact Sheet – Contact preferences and notifications (PDF 234KB).
Protecting the health, safety and welfare of every DCR user is a high priority for the Government of South Australia.
The rules about access to information on the DCR are outlined in the changed South Australian donor conception laws (i.e. the ART Regulations).
Your DCR connections can access your basic information including:
Only if you provide your consent in the DCR can your full name and date of birth be made available to your connections. That is your choice.
You can access information about your parent’s donor(s) including their:
You can access the biological sex at birth and year of birth of your donor-conceived sibling connections aged 18 years and older, and if they consent in the DCR, you can also access their:
You can access the biological sex at birth and year of birth of your donor-conceived sibling connections under the age of 18, and:
To learn more visit:
When you register to use the DCR, you can choose to add information about yourself that might be of value to your connections.
For example: you can include personal biographical or medical information, 1-2 photos or a short video.
To learn more download:
The Assisted Reproductive Treatment Act 1988 does not apply to private donor conception treatment arrangements.
If your parent(s) disclosed on your birth registration statement that you were donor-conceived through a private arrangement without the assistance of an ART clinic, and this information was verified by BDM, then your details and the details of your parent’s donor(s) will be included in the DCR.
It is therefore recommended, as a DCR participant you register to access the DCR to update information about yourself and set your contact preferences.
There is no way for the DCR to include information about private arrangements unless details of the arrangement are disclosed in the birth registration statement and the information verified by BDM.
Information about legal surrogacy agreements is included in the DCR where donated human reproductive material is used (gametes or embryos) in the treatment.
Records about donor conception treatments and birth registrations are held by the state or territory where the treatment was conducted or a birth is registered.
Where donor gametes or embryos were transferred between states, the DCR may not have access to the treatment records or to the identity of donor-conceived people whose birth was registered outside of South Australia – even if they are related to you as a DCR participant or DCR user.
If you are donor-conceived and have a South Australian birth certificate, but your parent(s) received donor conception treatment through an interstate ART clinic, you should seek advice in the state or territory in which your parent’s donor conception treatment was undertaken.
To learn more visit Helpful links and resources.
If you are donor-conceived, aged under 18, and were conceived through a donor conception treatment in South Australia – your parent(s) can register to access the DCR.
This will allow your parent(s) to access personal information to share with you about:
You may apply to access information held in the DCR under certain circumstances without parental support. To request information, visit Applications to access DCR information.
Law changes to the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 1996 allows donor-conceived people to request an updated birth certificate from BDM. In some circumstances a donor’s name may be included on a donor-conceived person’s birth certificate where requested.
Donor-conceived children born on or after 26 February 2025 have their donor-conceived status automatically noted on their birth certificate.
To learn more visit:
To register as a DCR user now, visit Access the South Australian Donor Conception Register.