The Right to Know: Re-evaluating Donor Anonymity in the Era of Children’s Rights from an Indonesian Legal Perspective

Abstract

Indonesia’s increasing integration into cross-border assisted reproductive technology (ART) networks has created a normative gap concerning the right of donor-conceived individuals to access information about their biological origins. Although Indonesia has ratified international human rights instruments, its domestic framework, including Law Number 17 of 2023 on Health and Law Number 35 of 2014 on Child Protection, regulates ART fragmentarily and provides no clear legal basis for this right. This research is normative legal research, also known as doctrinal research, to analyze the legal paradox of donor anonymity in Indonesia and uses descriptive analysis to synthesize a new legal framework that is appropriate to the Indonesian context and uses legal, conceptual, and comparative approaches, examining Indonesia’s framework alongside the United Kingdom’s Human Fertilization and Embryology Act 2004 and Australia’s Assisted Reproductive Treatment Act 2008. The findings indicate that absolute donor anonymity is not fully compatible with Indonesia’s constitutional principles and Islamic legal values. From a Maqasid al-Shariah perspective, anonymity may undermine Hifz al-Nasl (preservation of lineage), while sadd al-dhara’i supports limiting anonymity to prevent inadvertent consanguineous marriage. The right to know one’s biological origins may also constitute a dimension of the right to health under Article 28H (1) of the 1945 Constitution. Comparative analysis shows that open-identity donor frameworks do not necessarily require legalizing third-party gamete donation. Accordingly, a Semi-Open Disclosure System could provide a constitutionally compatible model within Article 127 of Law Number 17 of 2023. The study recommends legislative reform, a National Donor Registry, mandatory ART counseling, and proactive constitutional interpretation to balance lineage protection, children’s rights, the right to health, and Islamic legal values.

Keywords

• Donor Anonymity
• Right to Know
• Children’s Rights
• Hifz al-Nasl
• Assisted Reproductive Technology
• Maqasid al-Shariah