Ian Robinson, President of the Australian Rationalist Society, wrote a letter in response to an anonymous opinion piece the Boston Globe published calling for "a strong ethos of anonymity". The Boston Globe never published his letter. He has given me his permission to share his letter for your consideration:
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The Editor
Boston Globe
Sir
Your editorial (October 11) ("For sperm-bank era, courts need clearer rules" – http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2009/10/11/for_sperm_bank_era_courts_need_clearer_rules/) arguing for anonymity for sperm donors has prompted me to rewrite the famous ditty:
And here’s to good old Boston,
The land of the wink and the nod,
Where Lowells don’t know who their dads are
And Cabots claim fatherhood’s odd.
I would have thought if anybody understood the importance of genetic identity it would be Bostonians! Every child has a right their genetic inheritance so they know who they are in the world. Your first word begs the question – it was not the “anonymity” that brought happiness but the “donation”. Moreover it’s not the “families” that experienced that happiness but the infertile couples. Truth should be a valued commodity to a newspaper, and it certainly is to any child, and parents and legal systems telling lies to a child about the circumstances of their birth and preventing them from finding out the truth can never in the end make the child happy. I trust that the Boston Globe is not at heart insensitive to the rights of children and has just been misinformed. I urge you to familiarize yourselves with the extensive literature about the needs of donor-conceived offspring. Because any legal system that puts the needs and convenience of adults over the rights of children in this way, or any way, is close to forfeiting the right to call itself civilised.
Ian Robinson
President
Rationalist Society of
www.rationalist.com.au
Phone (613) 5940 5761
Fax (613) 5940 5762
Mob
PO Box 1312
Hawksburn, VIC 3142
Well said.