According to current rules, the donor of an ovum must keep her identity in secret. However, the ordeal of examinations donors have to go through to be able to help an infertile woman discourages most willing people from their generous act.

Due to the strict medical supervision required, mostly those women are willing to donate their ovum who would like to help one of their friends of family members to have a baby. However, the currently required anonymity prevents them from making the link between the donor and the receiver. Donations can be made on behalf of a medical institution, not directly to another person, the current rules say.

Upon the ombudsmen’s request, the Hungarian Medical Chamber has approved the new principle that allows to sidestep from anonymity when the donor and the receiver jointly ask for that. The Constitutional Court has left wide room of personal rights in such donation cases, thus it is likely that the Court will not block the amendment.

Barnabás Lenkovics, Ombudsman of Human Rights, said the new rules will better fit the spirit of the original law, since they will help donations occur more often, serving the needs of both donors and families wanting to have children, while helping the Hungarian society at large.