Egg Donation in Australia: The Legal Guide

Egg donation in Australia helps over 1200 people have a baby each year. Some recipients can’t use their own eggs because of age, illness, early menopause or earlier fertility treatment that didn’t work. Others are gay couples or single men building a family through surrogacy.

Egg donation is legal in every Australian state and territory. It’s also tightly regulated. Donors can’t be paid, donor-conceived children have a right to know who their donor is, and each state limits how many families one donor can help. This guide covers the legal side for donors and recipients.

This guide covers the legal side for donors and recipients.

How does the egg donation process work in Australia?

The donor takes hormone medication for about two weeks to stimulate her ovaries. The clinic then collects the eggs in a short procedure under sedation. The eggs are fertilised with sperm from the recipient’s partner or a sperm donor, and an embryo is transferred to the recipient (or to a surrogate).

Before any of that happens, both the egg donor and the recipients go through:

• Medical screening of the donor, including infectious disease and genetic testing
• Counselling about the long-term implications of donation
• Consent forms that set out how the eggs and any embryos can be used
• Legal advice, which is strongly recommended and often required by clinics when the donor is someone you know

Who can be an egg donor?

There’s no single national rule. Clinics set their own criteria under the national ethical guidelines,
and they usually look for donors who are:

• Within an age range set by the clinic (often late 20s to mid 30s)
• In good general health, with no significant inherited conditions
• Willing to be identified to any child born from the donation
• Able to attend counselling and give informed consent

Some clinics prefer donors who have already completed their own family. Ask your clinic for its current requirements.

Can you get paid to donate eggs in Australia?

No. Under the Prohibition of Human Cloning for Reproduction Act 2002 (Cth), it’s a criminal offence to give or receive payment for human eggs, sperm or embryos. This applies everywhere in Australia, and several states have their own bans as well.

What is allowed is reimbursement of reasonable expenses connected with the donation, such as:

• Medical costs, including medication and the collection procedure
• Travel and parking for appointments
• Counselling and legal fees
• Time off work for the collection procedure and recovery

Recipients usually cover these costs directly or reimburse the donor with receipts. Anything that looks like a reward, such as a cash “thank you” or a holiday, risks crossing the line. If you’re unsure whether a payment is a reimbursement or reward, get advice before any money changes hands.

Where do donor eggs come from?

Known donors

A friend, sister, cousin or other relative offers to donate. Known donation is common in Australia and means your child can know their donor from the start. Clinics won’t use eggs where the donor is closely related to the person providing the sperm.

Clinic-recruited donors

Some clinics run their own donor egg program. Supply is limited, and waiting lists for treatment can be long.

Imported donor eggs

Some Australian clinics import frozen donor eggs from overseas egg banks. The clinic has to be satisfied the donation meets Australian requirements, including that the donor agreed to be identifiable.

Is the egg donor a legal parent?

No. Under the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) and the Status of Children Acts in each state, a woman who donates eggs for an assisted conception procedure isn’t a legal parent of any child born. The woman who gives birth is the child’s mother, and her consenting partner is the other parent.

The donor won’t appear on the birth certificate and has no parental responsibility. She also has no obligation to pay child support. Read more on who is a parent under the Family Law Act.

If the eggs are used in a surrogacy arrangement, the surrogate is the legal mother at birth and parentage moves to the intended parents through a court order. See surrogacy with donor eggs.

Do you need a donor agreement?

For a known donor, yes. A clinic handles the medical side, but it won’t record what everyone
expects about the relationship. A written donor agreement can cover:

• The donor’s role in the child’s life, if any
• How and when the child will be told
• Contact with the donor’s own children, who will be the child’s genetic half-siblings
• Whether the donor would donate again for a sibling
• What happens to leftover embryos
• Privacy and social media

Donor agreements aren’t strictly enforceable, but they carry weight as evidence of everyone’s intentions. The donor and the recipients should each get their own legal advice. You can also read about sperm donor agreements.

Egg donor agreements

Egg donation always involves a clinic. The agreement covers contact with the donor’s own children (your child’s genetic half-siblings), how the child will be told and what happens to leftover embryos. See our guide to egg donation in Australia, or surrogacy with donor eggs if you’re also using a surrogate.

Can the donor change her mind?

Generally, a donor can vary or withdraw her consent until the eggs or embryos are used. Once an embryo has been transferred, she can’t withdraw. The exact rules depend on your state and the clinic’s consent forms, so read them carefully and ask questions before signing.

Can a child find out who their egg donor is?

Yes. Since 2005, national guidelines have required clinics to use only donors who agree to be identified to any child born. Several states also keep central registers:

• Victoria has the broadest rights, and donor-conceived people can apply for identifying information about their donor regardless of when they were born.
• New South Wales has kept a central register for donations since 2010.
• Queensland is setting up a central register at the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages under the Assisted Reproductive Technology Act 2024. See our post on the Queensland donor registry.
• Western Australia and South Australia keep records through their state regulators.

Our post on donor information access explains what donors, parents and donor-conceived people can request.

How many families can one egg donor help?

Each state caps the number of families created from one donor:

• New South Wales: 5 women
• Victoria: 10 women
• Western Australia: 5 families
• South Australia: 10 families
• Queensland: 10 Australian families under the new ART Act
• Tasmania, ACT and NT: 10 families, following national guidelines

The count usually includes the donor’s own family in some states. If you’re using an imported egg or a donor who has donated before, ask the clinic how it tracks the limit.

What happens to leftover embryos?

Embryos created with donor eggs are covered by the donor’s consent as well as yours. Decide early what you’d like to happen to spare embryos, whether that’s future siblings, donation to another family, research or disposal, and record it in your clinic paperwork and donor agreement. Our page on embryo freezing and gamete transfers has more on storage and transfers between clinics.

How we can help

We act for egg donors and recipients, drafting donor agreements and advising on parentage, consent and donor information rights. Because we also work in surrogacy, we can make sure a donor agreement and a surrogacy agreement fit together when both are needed.

Read about our donor conception legal services or make an appointment. You can also call 0489 311 855.