Currently, there are no national rules regarding the limits on the number of families a donor can contribute to, or how and where records about donors and donations are kept.
Donor limit rules vary from state to state and even clinic by clinic in some jurisdictions.
Victoria, NSW, WA, SA and ACT have their own regulations setting donor family limits, typically around five to 10 families. In states and territories without specific laws, clinics may set their own caps, usually guided by national ethical standards, but these are not centrally enforced.
Records are kept state by state and clinics in jurisdictions without central registers manage their own records.
Before 2005, donors could remain anonymous in most states. Now, across all states, donor anonymity is prohibited, and identifying information is available to donor-conceived children once they turn 18.
For many donor-conceived people, especially those born before donor identification laws, access to detailed health information or direct contact with their donor often depends on whether the donor consents to share updated records or identify themselves.
In Lyndal’s case, her fertility records were possibly lost, destroyed or never created in the first place. The Guardian reports her family’s fertility doctor has since died, and her clinic Queensland Fertility Group (QFG) says they can’t disclose her donor’s identity without their consent, meaning she’ll likely never get answers.