LONDON (Reuters Health) - Public Health Minister Melanie Johnson said on Wednesday new rules would be introduced to allow children conceived as a result of sperm, egg and embryo donations to find out the identity of their donor.

Infertility clinics have warned that removing the existing right of anonymity could make it more difficult to find donors for the 30,000 people who undergo infertility treatment in Britain every year, especially if they think they might have to support their children financially.

But Johnson stressed that the new regulations, due to come into force in 2005, would only apply once children reached the age of 18. "As now, [donors] will have no financial or legal obligations towards the child."

She told the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority (HFEA) annual conference in London "I firmly believe donor-conceived people have a right to information about their genetic origins that is currently denied them, including the identity of their donor...Donor-conceived people should not be treated so differently from adopted people. Today's new regulations will align their positions, removing the major discrepancy that exists between the rights of donor-conceived people and those of adopted people."

Johnson also announced a review of the Human Fertilization and Embryology Act, which was introduced in 1991 to regulate assisted conception. The review would not cover already widely debated issues such as stem cells or cloning but would consider whether a wider range of assisted reproduction techniques should be regulated

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