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National | Health

Fertility programme seeks more Māori donors

Today 1 in 50 babies in NZ are born through reproductive technology, and maintaining genealogical links can be paramount to Māori donors.

NZ's main egg and sperm donor programme Fertility Associates need more Māori donors, and mother Kylee Poole has decided to donate.

Ms Poole says, “It's really been life-changing for me, it's really indescribable, the feeling, how I've helped someone have a baby.”

Donating to a Māori couple was important to Kylee, who was able to choose from three Māori profiles and chose the one that fitted with her values.

Fertility Associates have helped around 15,000 babies be born in NZ but they need more Māori donors to help cater to families wanting to maintain their Māori heritage.

All donors and their genealogical links are kept on a national register that can be accessed by the child when they want to know their heritage.

The donation process is not about making money as it's illegal in NZ to get paid for donating eggs or sperm, but for Kylee and her family, it was simply about giving the gift of having a family.