VANCOUVER -- The B.C. Court of Appeal has thrown out an earlier decision that sided with a woman who wanted to know the identity of her sperm donor father.
Olivia Pratten wanted offspring like herself to be treated the same as people who are adopted and argued that the B.C. government should change its laws accordingly.
But the appeal court ruled there is no legal right for offspring to know their past and providing such information would amount to state intrusion into many people's lives.
The court said there are plenty of non-donor offspring who don't know their family history or the identity of their biological father because of decisions made by others or the circumstances of their conception.
In May 2011, a B.C. Supreme Court judge agreed with Pratten, giving the province 15 months to amend its Adoption Act, saying people who are deprived of their genetic backgrounds suffer psychological harm.
Pratten spent years trying to learn her biological father's identity, only to learn her mother's fertility specialist destroyed the records and then provided her with contradicting information.
