DEAR FRIENDS,

First of all a big THANK YOU to all who have made donations to the case, and for your continued support.

LEGAL UPDATE
On May 19th, Justice Elaine Adair ruled on the Pratten vs. Attorney General and College of Physicians and Surgeons of B.C. case. In her decision, Justice Adair ruled that the Adoption Act was unconstitutional and must be struck down. She allowed 15 months for the Province to draft a new law so it does not violate Section 15.1 of Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms and would include the children born of gamete donation. One of the important consequences of this decision is that henceforth anonymous gamete donation (like closed adoptions) will no longer be permitted in British Columbia. Justice Adair also granted a permanent injunction prohibiting the destruction,disposal or redaction of any Gamete Donor Records out of B.C.

On June 17th, The Attorney General of BC filed an Appeal against this landmark ruling.The government plans to argue that the Judge erred in law by finding that the provisions of B.C.'s Adoption Act were discriminatory and therefore unconstitutional.

More details of their arguments are expected to be received by September and the case will proceed to the Appeals court.

We are casting the net wide to ask for anyone and everyone who has an interest in seeing this case continue, to please donate any amount of money large or small to help with the legal costs. We have a brilliant team of lawyers who have done an amazing job so far setting new precident and a dedicated crew behind the scenes but we cannot do this without your continued help.

Donations can be made directly to Arvay Finlay law firm at Arvay Finlay Barristers c/o Sally Yee, 1350 - 355 Burrard St, Vancouver V6C 2G8 (please write "Pratten litigation" underneath cheque signature) or through the website by clicking here.

Thank you for your continued support

Olivia Pratten, Spokesperson for the Canadian Donor Conception Coalition (CDCC)

DEAR FRIENDS,

First of all a big THANK YOU to all who have made donations to the case, and for your continued support.

The wheels of justice sometimes move slowly, but our case is rapidly accelerating to trial. Now we need your support more than ever.

LEGAL UPDATE
On October 15th 2010, British Columbia Supreme Court Justice Miriam Gropper ordered the Pratten v. Attorney General of British Columbia case to proceed to trial commencing October 25th 2010. Not only was the attempt by the Attorney General to dismiss or adjourn our case soundly rejected, but the judgment further provided that Olivia Pratten is granted public interest standing, recognizing that she brings the case on behalf of all people conceived in British Columbia through gamete donation as well as her own behalf. For further details of the judgment please see www.canadiandonoroffspring.ca and click on News and Bulletin link.

HUGE APPRECIATION AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT goes to our dedicated legal team, Joe Arvay QC, Sean Hern, and Alison Latimer who continue to do a fantastic job in breaking down barriers and charting new legal territory pushing the case forward.

RECOGNITION AND THANKS also to the legal support staffers Sally Yee, Tiffany Webb, Nicoleta Badea and the Administrative team - Linda Elena, Brian Seaman and Shirley Pratten all who make valuable contributions behind the scenes. Thanks also to Doug Ward for the design, maintenence and update of the Canadian Donor Coalition website.

FINAL APPEAL
The trial will fast be upon us and we need help from anyone with an interest in seeing this case succeed and thus improve the lives of thousands of Canadians. All donations of any amount are greatly appreciated and can be made directly to the Arvay Finlay offices at www.canadiandonoroffspring.ca - click on Fundraising link, or they can be made through PayPal on the same page.

Thank you all !!

Olivia Pratten, Spokesperson for the Canadian Donor Conception Coalition (CDCC)

October 18th 2009

Re; Lawsuit by Canadian Donor Offspring

Dear Friends,

We hope you have all had a restful and enjoyable summer....

As fall is upon us, we want to provide an update on the case as well as say a big THANK YOU to those of you who have donated money which is being held in trust for the legal costs.

SUPPORT FROM THE ADOPTION COMMUNITY
Over the summer we also received a letter and financial contribution from the legislative committee of the American Adoption Congress, supporting the rights of donor conceived people to have access to their birth information. AAC sends their good wishes for a successful conclusion of the lawsuit. It is encouraging to know that there is support from the U.S. Adoption Congress as well as from the Adoption Council of Canada.

LEGAL UPDATE
While our trial is set to be heard on October 25th 2010, our lawyers are hoping that it might be moved up into the spring of 2010 by having what is called a "summary trial" which involves affidavit evidence rather than the attendance of witnesses who would testify. It is still too early to know whether that will happen but our lawyers are confident that it will. There has been much legal activity behind the scenes to prepare for this, and we wish to acknowledge the dedication, committment and leadership of Joe Arvay QC and Sean Hern LL.B

Elin Sigurdson, Associate lawyer at Arvay Finlay has recently joined Mr. Arvay and Mr. Hern on the legal team and we look forward to working with her. We would also like to thank law student Bruce Reed for his work on the case over the summer..

We have had recent communication with LEAF (Women's Legal Education and Action Fund) who have let us know they are following the case with interest. At this point there is no funding to assist, but we are on their radar screen because one of their research projects this year involves looking at the equality implications of the AHR legislation, reproductive technologies and various reproductive rights. LEAF is a national charitible organization that works towards ensuring the law guarantees equality for women.

APPEAL
We need any and all continued help with individual donations - please know that every single donation of money counts, whatever the amount - we cannot do this alone and ask for everybody who has an interest for any reason in seeing this case move forward, and/or who was connected with the AHR legislation to go to the Fundraising Page and make a contribution.

Thank you
Olivia Pratten
Spokesperson for the Canadian Donor Conception Coalition (CDCC)

Dear Friends:
The purpose of this message is to introduce ourselves to those who have expressed an interest and support of the gamete donor lawsuit. This class action lawsuit was filed in October by Olivia Pratten on behalf of all people conceived via donated gametes in B.C., Canada

Here is the original press release:

http://www.arvayfinlay.com/news/news-oct28-2008.html

In an effort to see this suit through, several interested parties have formed an organization called CDCC (Canadian Donor Conception Coalition) The purpose of this organization is to keep interested parties informed and updated as the lawsuit progresses. In the New Year we will be starting to fundraise for the legal costs of the suit

Throughout the world, records of sperm and egg donations are frequently left to languish on doctors shelves and to gather dust in fertility clinics. Like original birth certificates for adoptees, these files and records are the only link that offspring have to accessing their health and social histories. Unfortunately in BC, because these files are recognized as being a regular medical file, it means that they can be destroyed after 6 years from the last point of contact with the physician. In 2008, four years after the federal law governing these practices came into effect, the new Assisted Human Reproductive Agency informed us they had no legal jurisdiction to prevent past gamete donor records from being destroyed. In response we decided to seek legal advice and the class action lawsuit was filed.

OUR LEGAL REPRESENTATION
We are represented by Joseph Arvay QC and Sean Hern Mr. Arvay has been involved in many constitutional cases of importance in British Columbia and other parts of Canada. He has also recently been named as one of the top 100 best lawyers in Canada in the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory for two years in a row. Sean Hern has been specifically chosen by Mr. Arvay to co-counsel with him in this case as he regards him as one of the very best and brightest of the young lawyers in the Province.

SO WHAT'S NEW?
Today (December 18th) Madame Justice Gerow issued an interlocutary injunction which extends the order by Chief Justice Brenner to protect all gamete donor records from being destroyed. More information to follow early in the New Year.

SO WHAT'S COMING UP NEXT ?
At the end of January the case will go back to court to be certified as a class action and in 12-18 months from now it is expected to go to trial.

We are in the process of setting of up a website that will provide more information about the case, and further updates as things happen. There will be further notification about the website in the New Year.

Any ideas and suggestions you might have for us would be very welcome.

Merry Christmas to you all.

Olivia Pratten,
spokesperson for the Canadian Donor Conception Coalition (CDCC)