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Donor conceived children have a right to know their biological and genetic origins, Queensland Parliament’s Legal Affairs and Safety Committee has found.

The Committee has recommended that identifying information about donors, including their medical history, be made available on request to all donor conceived persons when they reach the age of 18.

The proposed changes will be retrospective – that is to say, still apply to those who have donated in the past on the basis of anonymity.

The Committee also recommended that information about the gender and year of birth of donor conceived siblings be made available on request to donor conceived persons.

FamilyVoice Australia made a submission to the inquiry.  FamilyVoice’s submission stated that:

Donor conceived children have a right to know their biological and genetic origin, including full identifying information about their genetic parents. Access to such information should be available on request at age 18, or earlier with the agreement of the legal parents.

This right should not be dependent on the date of the procedure which led to their conception or on any guarantees of anonymity given to sperm donors in the past. No one – neither clinic nor the state – has the right to offer anonymous fatherhood to a man in order to obtain his sperm to conceive a child.

While FamilyVoice’s recommendation that children have access to the records with parental consent was not taken up, permitting donor-conceived adults to access the information is a step in the right direction.

The Committee has recommended that a donor conception register be established with the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages to house the information.

But while the register will be mandatory in relation to donor conception achieved within a fertility clinic, it will be voluntary to those who have pursued donor conception in “private” arrangements meaning there will still be a gap in the law.

family

 

I Knew You


‘Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you; Before you were born, I sanctified you’ Jeremiah 1:5 


A battle where the tide is turning is protecting the unborn. The amazing reversal of Roe v Wade is wonderful to behold. We give God great thanks for this miracle.


In Australia the passing of Zoe’s Law in NSW and the great groundswell for Miles Law in QLD that FamilyVoice has been able to generate, shows that our long struggles in this area are starting to bear fruit. Andrew McColl our QLD State Director has been meeting with MPs, running a campaign and held a webinar to promote Miles Law.


A recent FamilyVoice campaign to spearhead a national strategy to protect the unborn was a further step along the road to life.
After going backwards for 50 years, it is great to have a few wins. May the Lord give us many more.


One of the defining characteristics of FamilyVoice and our fantastic supporters is that we never give up. We keep pushing for what is right and good. To protect the unborn, for marriage, for religious freedom, for the scientific truth of gender – and we keep pushing against what is wrong in the policies our opponents advocate.

QLD State Director Andrew McColl


Social Media


In a previous letter I let you know that our social media was going well. It has continued to do so.


Up to 5/7/2022, for the previous 28 days our Facebook had reached a remarkable 11,764,613 people. The engagement rate was an impressive 1,940,325. These are posts that are liked, commented upon and shared. 


That is an amazing result especially given that we hardly spend any money boosting the posts. It is almost all organic growth. The truth is being told, shared, liked and is also being well received.


Major media outlets struggle to maintain such results. This is the largest engagement for any group like ours in Australia, for which we are very thankful to the Lord.


The transgender issue is the major driver of these results. It is great to see international sporting bodies making sensible decisions. Not allowing confused men to compete against women is a win for common sense.


Praise the Lord that we are winning this battle.


FamilyVoice has been producing a daily Tic Tok. This is where you reach young people and the next generation. Though not yet as successful as our Facebook posts, we press on. Please pray that our Lord will bless this in His good time and pray for the young people who see it.


Not “Birthing Parent”


Another win for common sense and decency is that FamilyVoice has been vindicated by its stance earlier this year against the term ‘birthing parent’ which belittles mum’s and highlights the fact that biological reality was being lost.

NSW State Director Greg Bondar


We thanked NDIS and Government Services Minister Bill Shorten, in a media release, who has vowed to replace the government Medicare form which calls mothers “birthing parents” after a new mum voiced her complaint. This media release by Greg Bondar was picked up by the Guardian and other media outlets and got wide coverage.
Let us pray that the government continues making sensible decisions like this.


Protecting Children from “Drag Shows”


In Western Australia, there were calls for adult and child performers for an “All Ages Drag Show” on September 17 and claims that performances will be “all-age-friendly”.


Most adult-age “drag” performers are adult entertainers with inappropriate and sexualized stage names. Children often search online names and key phrases out of curiosity and are then exposed to explicit materials. 


Our WA State Director Darryl Budge launched a campaign against this highly inappropriate activity.

WA State Director Darryl Budge


Some of our other recent campaigns have been to keep Christian Chaplains in Schools, Say No to giving our Sovereignty away, Keep Christmas Day for Jesus and family and not for sport, just to name a few. You can see a full list of them and take action on our website


Webinars and Media


After our very busy year last year with 25 webinars, Greg Bondar and David d’Lima have started the year off well with our webinar program.
We held a webinar with the Hon John Anderson AO, Deputy Prime Minister in the John Howard led federal government discussing western civilisation. 


We have also had Professor David Flint AM and Piers Akerman on the monarchy and how good it has been for Australia. The webinar with Warwick Fairfax from the SMH and The Age was a great look at how God can guide our life even when things don’t go the way we had planned.


We held a webinar with Robbie Katter of KAP and Malcolm Roberts from One Nation on the transgender issue after Robbie Katter had moved a motion on it in the QLD parliament. 


FamilyVoice webinars are free for all our supporters, and we are planning more in the months ahead with some high-profile backers of family, faith and freedom. We will send emails in advance with links you can click on to register. Do join us!


With the webinars, media releases, campaigns and a significant social media presence, we have generated a lot of media attention.

We thank all our supporters for their help with this.


Transgender push in South Australia like Victoria


The forces of evil are planning to introduce legislation to prevent parents, pastor, and counsellors from helping gender confused children in South Australia. 


This is hot on the heels of the terrible legislation already in force in Victoria that Peter Stevens our Victorian State Director fought against. 

SA State Director David d'Lima


FamilyVoice state director David d’Lima is planning to bring over special speakers and people with expert knowledge in this area to hold meetings and meet with SA parliamentarians to try to head this off. Your support will enable this.

VIC State Director Peter Stevens


Great Opportunities


Even with these present dangers the Lord is opening to FamilyVoice many opportunities to do good. 


One of these new opportunities is to train young people to take up the challenge and work for the Lord in our areas of concern for the next 50 years. We want to hold meetings in all states to get the information and skills in these young hands. Please help us as we work to achieve this.


FamilyVoice has a strong track record of defending Christian values and the family: permanence of marriage, sanctity of human life, primacy of parenthood and limited government – summed up as “family, faith and freedom”. Next year is our 50-year anniversary. Look out for our special events to celebrate this amazing milestone.


If you can support our ministry at this time, it would be a great answer to prayer. Please donate via our website or by EFT. Call our office on 1300 365 965, or email office@familyvoice.org.au if you need any assistance.


May God richly bless you and those you love.


For family, faith and freedom,

Peter Downie
National Director

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