Colorado’s HB25-1259 purports to address threats to IVF in Colorado, but diving into what the bill actually does makes clear it is almost entirely focused on gutting key provisions of Colorado’s “Donor-Conceived Persons and Families of Donor-Conceived Persons Protection Act” (DCPPA). HB25-1259 protects industry profits and reduces industry accountability to donor conceived people and their families.
At U.S. Donor Conceived Council, we strongly support greater protections for access to IVF and patient control over the disposal of embryos. That’s why we have proposed an alternative approach to Colorado lawmakers—one that will protect IVF without undermining protections for donor conceived people and their families.
Keep reading to learn how HB25-1259 makes it easier for companies to disregard DCPPA’s provisions and avoid enforcement for infractions.
Collection of Donor Identifying Information & Medical History
HB25-1259 amends Col. Rev. Stat. Ann. 25-57-104. Collection of [donor] identifying information and medical history.
Legalese:
Removes the requirement that regulated entities “make a good faith effort to maintain current contact information [for the donor] and updates on the medical history of the donor by requesting updates from the donor at least once every three years.”
Plain English:
Banks won’t have to keep up-to-date contact information for donors or periodically request donors update their medical history.
Disclosure of Donor Identifying Information & Medical History
HB25-1259 amends Col. Rev. Stat. Ann. 25-57-106. Disclosure of [donor] identifying information and medical history.
Legalese:
Removes the prohibition of regulated entities impeding or prohibiting compliance with mandatory disclosure of the donor’s identity upon request at 18 by “[a]n adult donor-conceived person and the person’s friends, family, or other third parties about the donor whose gametes were used to conceive the donor-conceived person.”
Plain English:
Banks will be able to refuse the release of donor identifying information unless the donor conceived person signs a non-disclosure agreement, preventing the DCP from discussing the donor with family and close friends.
Record Keeping
HB25-1259 amends and repeals Col. Rev. Stat. Ann. 25-57-107. Record keeping.
Legalese:
Entirely repeals (removes) the requirements for a gamete bank to, among other things,
- “Submit a proposed plan to permanently maintain [certain records] in the event of dissolution, insolvency, or bankruptcy.”
- “Upon dissolution, insolvency, or bankruptcy . . .” provide the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment with the names and contact information of the successor entity and file a statement giving the name and contact information of the successor entity.
- Inform gamete donors and recipient parents (who reported live births) “by mail or electronic mail . . . the name and contact information of the successor entity that will receive and maintain the records”
- “[C]omply with reporting requirements about gamete screening and testing in accordance with federal law and applicable laws of [Colorado] other than those set forth in [Article] 57.”
Plain English:
Banks will not have to develop plans for what happens to donor and recipient parent records and information in the event the bank goes out of business, which may lead to lost and missing records for donor conceived people 18 years or older (and the inability to identify the donor).
Written Educational Materials for Recipient Parents and Gamete Donors
HB25-1259 amends and repeals Col. Rev. Stat. Ann. 25-57-108. Written [educational] materials for recipient parents and gamete donors.
Legalese:
- Removes the requirement for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to develop, on or before January 1, 2025, written educational materials for donors and recipient parents “in conjunction with licensed mental health professionals who have prior documented experienced counseling gamete donors, recipients, and donor-conceived persons, as well as experience and competency in counseling families with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender parents and single parents, along with organizations representing these communities.”
- Removes the requirement that the materials inform recipient parents of the “future implications of receiving medical history updates about the donor or other persons conceived with the same donor’s gametes.”
- Changes the provisions of subsection (4) from applying to agencies, banks, or clinics outside of Colorado that “matches donors or provides gametes or embryos to recipients in Colorado” to only applying to “individuals” who do so.
Plain English:
Banks will be free to develop their own educational materials rather than use the existing materials that were created by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) through extensive collaboration with the mental health professionals and key stakeholders required by DCPPA. And only out-of-state “individuals” who match donors or provide gametes or embryos to Colorado recipients will be required to provide written educational materials. In other words, out-of-state banks will no longer be required to provide written educational materials.
Important Note:
DCPPA does not prohibit banks from creating, distributing, and using their own educational materials in addition to those created and required by CDPHE. Additionally, out-of-state banks are not required to use the CDPHE-approved materials and instead can make their own as long as they follow the requirements of the DCPPA.
Limits on the Number of Families Per Donor
HB25-1259 amends Col. Rev. Stat. Ann. 25-57-109. Donor age limits – limits on number of families per donor – limits on egg-retrieval cycles per ovum donor – rules.
Legalese:
Changes the provision that entities must require gamete recipients to report live births “as a condition of receiving donor gametes” to “recommending” gamete recipients report live births.
Plain English:
Banks will no longer have to require live birth reporting as a means of tracking and enforcing the 25-families-per-donor limit.
Important Note:
Some banks, including California Cryobank (which is behind HB25-1259), already “require” live birth reporting. Merely recommending live birth reporting, rather than requiring it, will make it easier for banks not to adhere to promised family limits, resulting in huge sibling pods.
Licensure, Inspection, & Penalties
HB25-1259 amends and repeals Col. Rev. Stat. Ann. 25-57-110. License required – application – inspection – issuance, denial, suspension, or revocation – fees – civil penalties – rules.
Legalese:
- Changes the requirement for regulated entities to apply for licensure annually to every five years.
- Removes the provision that, “subject to available appropriations, the [Colorado Department of Public Health] may, as it deems necessary, perform on-site inspections or complaint investigations of a gamete agency, gamete bank, or fertility clinic located outside of Colorado.”
- Removes the requirement that when CDPHE investigates or reviews records of regulated entities located outside of Colorado, it may only look at the records “pertaining to donors whose gametes or embryos were matched or provided to recipients in Colorado”
- Removes CDPHE’s ability to “assess a civil penalty of not more than twenty thousand dollars, adjusted annually for inflation, based on the annual percentage change in the United States department of labor’s bureau of labor statistics consumer price index for Denver-Aurora-Lakewood for all items paid by all urban consumers, or its applicable predecessor or successor index” and requires the State Board to conduct a hearing and finding of a violation.
Plain English:
Rather than annual licensure, banks will only apply (and hence be reviewed) every five years. CDPHE will no longer have the authority to, in its discretion, conduct on-site inspections of out-of-state banks that sell donor gametes in Colorado or investigate complaints. The changes would also weaken CDPHE’s ability to enforce the law.