Colorado Donor-Conceived Person Protection Law Opens Public Comments On Proposed Rules – Above the Law

On
May
31,
2022,
Colorado
was
the
first
state
in
the
country
—
and
the
only
one
to
date
—
to
sign
into
law
wide-ranging
regulations
focused
on
protecting
“donor-conceived
persons.”
That
law,
entitled
the

Donor-conceived
Persons
and
Families
of
Donor-conceived
Persons
Protection
Act,
is
slated
to
go
into
effect
on
January
1,
2025.

In
the
meantime,
the
Colorado
Department
of
Public
Health
and
Environment
(CDPHE)
has
been
hard
at
work
engaging
in
regulatory
rulemaking.
Recently,
the
CDPHE
published
a
set
of

proposed
rules
to
implement
the
law
and
has
invited
stakeholders
to
submit
comments,
either
through
four
upcoming
scheduled
live
Zoom
sessions
or
through
submitting
written
comments.
And,
assuming
you
read
this
the
day
it
is
published,


the
first
session
is
tomorrow,
November
1!

Remind
Me
What
This
Law
Does?

Well,

a
lot.
This
law
makes
Colorado
the
first
state
in
the
country
to
place
firm
requirements
on
identity
disclosure
in
egg
and
sperm
donations,
and
moreover,
limits
the
number
of
families
that
can
receive
donations
from
a
single
donor,
as
well
as
the
number
of
egg
retrievals
a
donor
can
undergo.
Among
the
requirements
of
the
new
law
are:

• 
  Licensure. All
  fertility
  clinics,
  gamete
  banks,
  and
  gamete
  agencies
  matching
  recipients
  with
  egg
  or
  sperm
  donors
  unknown
  to
  the
  recipients
  at
  the
  time
  of
  donation
  in
  Colorado or
  to
  Colorado
  residents
  must
  be
  licensed
  under
  the
  new
  law.
• 
  Elimination
  of
  fully
  anonymous
  donation.
  All
  donors
  after
  the
  effective
  date
  must
  agree
  to
  have
  their
  identities
  released
  to
  donor-conceived
  offspring
  upon
  such
  person
  reaching
  18
  years
  of
  age.
• 
  Collecting
  and
  updating
  medical
  history.
  Responsible
  entities
  covered
  by
  the
  new
  law
  must
  collect
  a
  comprehensive
  medical
  history
  from
  each
  donor
  and
  attempt
  to
  update
  that
  medical
  history
  at
  least
  once
  every
  three
  years.
• 
  Written
  materials.
  Fertility
  clinics,
  gamete
  banks,
  and
  gamete
  agencies
  are
  required
  to
  provide
  written
  materials
  to
  recipients
  and
  donors
  that
  have
  been
  developed
  by
  the
  CDPHE
  in
  conjunction
  with
  mental
  health
  professionals
  to
  address,
  for
  recipients,
  the
  needs
  and
  interests
  of
  donor-conceived
  persons,
  and,
  for
  donors,
  the
  emotional
  and
  social
  impacts
  of
  donating
  gametes,
  among
  other
  enumerated
  points.
• 
  Limiting
  each
  donor
  to
  no
  more
  than
  25
  families.
  The
  regulated
  entities
  must
  make
  efforts
  to
  know
  how
  many
  families
  have
  received
  donations
  from
  the
  same
  donor
  and
  must
  not
  facilitate
  donations
  from
  the
  same
  donor
  beyond
  25
  families.
• 
  Egg
  donors
  limited
  to
  six
  retrievals. Egg
  donors
  are
  subject
  to
  a
  lifetime
  limit
  of
  six
  cycles
  per
  donor,
  with
  possible
  exceptions
  for
  a
  family
  wishing
  to
  conceive
  an
  additional
  child
  with
  the
  same
  donor.

To
name
a
few.

How
Can
I
Comment?

The
CDPHE
welcomes
comments
from
all
stakeholders
—
no
need
to
be
a
fertility
doctor
or
assisted
reproductive
technology-specialized
attorney.
Although
those
professionals
may
especially
want
to
weigh
in.
The
CDPHE’s
four
live
Zoom
rulemaking
hearings
will
each
focus
on
discussing
different
parts
of
the
bill.

• 
  Session
  1:Wednesday,
  November
  1,
  2023
  (Noon
  to
  2
  p.m.
  MT).
  This
  session
  is
  scheduled
  to
  focus
  on
  the
  introductory
  sections
  of
  the
  proposed
  regulations,
  specifically
  those
  on
  purpose
  and
  authority,
  definitions,
  and
  licensing.
• 
  Session
  2:
  Wednesday,
  November
  15,
  2023
  (Noon
  to
  2
  p.m.
  MT).
  This
  session
  is
  scheduled
  to
  focus
  on
  donor
  consent,
  tracking
  donor
  information,
  and
  donor
  information
  disbursal.
• 
  Session
  3:
  Wednesday,
  November
  29,
  2023
  (Noon
  to
  2
  p.m.
  MT).
  This
  session
  is
  scheduled
  to
  focus
  on
  educational
  materials
  and
  licensing
  processes.
• 
  Session
  4:
  Wednesday,
  December
  13,
  2023
  (Noon
  to
  2
  p.m.
  MT).
  This
  session
  is
  scheduled
  to
  focus
  on
  certain
  family
  limits
  and
  retrieval
  limits
  on
  donations
  of
  genetic
  material.

For
those
who
wish
to
participate,
all
sessions
require

pre-registration.
Separately,
as
noted
above,
if
you
have
a
little
bit
of
stage
fright
or
didn’t
get
a
chance
to
share
all
your
thoughts
in
a
Zoom
meeting,
CDPHE
accepts

written
comments
on
the
proposed
rules.
All
written
comments
must
be
submitted
by
5
p.m.
Mountain
time,
Friday,
December
29,
2023.

The
more
stakeholder
eyes
are
on
these
rules,
and
the
more
constructive
feedback
that
is
provided
to
the
CDPHE,
the
better. So
regardless
of
your
viewpoint,
I
hope
to
see
you
tomorrow!

---

Ellen
Trachman
is
the
Managing
Attorney
of Trachman
Law
Center,
LLC,
a
Denver-based
law
firm
specializing
in
assisted
reproductive
technology
law,
and
co-host
of
the
podcast I
Want
To
Put
A
Baby
In
You.
You
can
reach
her
at babies@abovethelaw.com.