Search the Human Assisted Reproductive Technology Register

Overview

The register is a record of people conceived from sperm or egg donations made at a New Zealand fertility clinic, and their donors. Donors can ask for the names of any children born from their donation, but the child must be 18 or over and give permission.

Apply for information on the register

You can apply for a printout of all recorded, unrestricted information using the forms below.

Before you apply for information, it’s recommended that you talk to a counsellor. Your GP or a fertility clinic may be able to recommend one.

General identity declaration form

Donors and donor-conceived people or their parents or guardians must complete both a:

• general identity declaration form, and
• the relevant application form.

BDM130 General identity declaration (PDF 2.3 MB)

BDM130 Accessible version — General identity declaration (TXT 2.8 KB)

For donor-conceived persons

Use the form below to find out whether:

• information is kept about the donor
• the donor-conceived person shares a donor with another
• the donor has asked for information about the donor-conceived person.

The cost is $15.30.

To find out information relating to:

• the donor-conceived person
• the donor
• other donor-conceived persons related to the same donor.

The cost is $40.80.

BDM404 Application by donor-conceived person (or guardian) to access information held on the Human Assisted Reproductive Technology Register (PDF 46 KB)

BDM404 Accessible version — Application by donor-conceived person (or guardian) to access information held on the Human Assisted Reproductive Technology Register (TXT 3.3 KB)

For donors

Use the form below to find out:

• if any donor-conceived persons have been born, and their gender for $15.30; or
• information about all donor-conceived persons (if they have consented) related to the donor for $40.80.

BDM403 Application by donor to access information held on the Human Assisted Reproductive Technology Register (PDF 43 KB)

BDM403 Accessible version — Application by donor to access information held on the Human Assisted Reproductive Technology Register (TXT 2.6 KB)

Using an agent to access information

If you are getting someone else – like a lawyer – to access the information for you, you need to complete this form:

BDM405 Authorisation for disclosure of information to agent (PDF 27 KB)

BDM405 Accessible version — Authorisation for disclosure of information to agent (TXT 0.8 KB)

Who can access information on the register?

You can access information on the HART register if:

• you are named on the register, and you are aged 18 or over
• you are a parent or guardian of a donor-conceived person who is aged 17 or under.

You can choose to appoint someone else to access this information for you, see Authorising an agent.

What you can find out

Donors, donor-conceived people or their parents or guardians can:

• contact the fertility clinic directly for information, if it is known, or
• apply to the HART Register for information, which will include details about the clinic.

For donations made on or after 22 August 2005, the fertility clinic will have more details about the donor than the HART Register.

How to consent or cancel consent

If you are a donor or donor-conceived person and you want to provide — or cancel — your consent to the release of identifying information from the HART Register, you must complete this form:

BDM406 Access to and disclosure of identifying information (PDF 480 KB)

BDM406 Accessible version — Access to and disclosure of identifying information (TXT 12 KB)

How to change your details on the register

For any donations made at a New Zealand fertility clinic on or after 22 August 2005 that resulted in a birth, changes must be made through the fertility clinic.

For donations made before 22 August 2005 that resulted in a birth, complete the appropriate form below:

For donor-conceived persons

BDM402 Application to record (or update) donor-conceived person details on the Human Assisted Reproductive Technology Register (PDF 99 KB)

BDM402 Accessible version — Application to record (or update) donor-conceived person details on the Human Assisted Reproductive Technology Register (TXT 7 KB)

For donors

BDM401 Application to record (or update) donor details on the Human Assisted Reproductive Technology Register (PDF 84 KB)

BDM401 Accessible version — Application to record (or update) donor details on the Human Assisted Reproductive Technology Register (TXT 6 KB)

About the register

Under the Human Assisted Reproductive Technology Act 2004, there are 2 types of records in the HART register, mandatory and voluntary:

Mandatory registrations

Mandatory registrations are for any donations made at a New Zealand fertility clinic on or after 22 August 2005 that result in a birth. The mandatory register includes:

• the child’s name, gender, and date and place of birth
• their parents’ names and address
• the donor’s name, address, and date and place of birth.

People conceived from donations made on or after 22 August 2005 can find out the identity of their donor.

After 50 years — or if the clinic goes out of business — fertility clinics must give Births, Deaths and Marriages (BDM) more detailed information about the donor and the donor-conceived child, including family history and cultural connections. BDM will add this information to the HART Register.

Voluntary registrations

Voluntary registrations are for donations made before 22 August 2005 that result in a birth.

Donors will not be automatically identifiable for donations made before 22 August 2005.

The voluntary register information is available to donors and people conceived from donor embryos or cells donated before 22 August 2005 with consent of the donor or donor conceived person.

For these donations, donors and donor-conceived people can choose to give their details to the voluntary register. The HART Register includes only the details they choose to provide. For this reason, requests for information from the voluntary register won't always result in the information desired.

BDM cannot register details from a family member or friend of a donor or donor-conceived person. The information must be registered by the person themselves.

Other information

Once people conceived from donated embryos or cells are aged 18 years they may consent to contact by their donor.

Under certain circumstances the Family Court may confer certain rights on people born from donated embryos or cells who are aged 16 or 17 years to enable them to be treated as being aged 18 years or more.

People conceived from donated embryos or cells and/or their parents/guardians may agree to identifying information being released to people conceived from the same donor.