Open ID vs. Nonidentified Embryo Donation: What Each Option Means

Openness in embryo donation describes how much identifying information and contact a donating family and a recipient family share, both during treatment and as a child grows up. In 2022, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) replaced "anonymous" with "nonidentified" and "known" with "directed (identified)," noting that social media and direct-to-consumer DNA testing mean donor anonymity can no longer be assured.²

If you are considering donor embryos, the level of openness you choose can shape your family relationships for many years, so understanding each option before you start browsing can make the choice clearer. Every profile in the Donor Embryo Program lists the donating family's preference, and this guide explains what those preferences mean, why no program can promise permanent anonymity, how Colorado's newer law fits in, and which questions to talk through with your partner.

What is the difference between nonidentified, open ID, and directed embryo donation?

The difference is how much identifying information is shared and who arranges the donation: nonidentified donations share no identities through the program, open ID donations include some agreed identity release or contact, and directed donations take place between families who already know each other.²

Source: ASRM 2022 terminology opinion²; Donor Nexus.¹

What is nonidentified embryo donation?

Nonidentified embryo donation means no identification or contact is established between the donating family and your family through the program. You see a profile with health history, physical traits, and embryo details, and the donating family does not receive your name or contact information. ASRM describes the intent of a nonidentified agreement as keeping identities unknown to one another to the extent the law allows, while acknowledging that this can't be promised indefinitely.² Donor Nexus keeps your information confidential, although permanent anonymity can't be guaranteed because of consumer DNA testing, which the next section explains.

What is open ID embryo donation?

Open ID embryo donation means the donating family has agreed to some level of identity release or contact, and the details vary from profile to profile. On the Donor Nexus site, an open ID profile means the donor agreed to release identifying information to any donor-conceived individual aged 18 or older upon request.¹ Some profiles include additional options, such as facilitated video calls or contact during pregnancy, which are covered in the section on how openness works at Donor Nexus.

What is a directed embryo donation?

A directed (identified) donation is one where you and the donating family already know each other, whether you connected through a friend, a referral, social media, or an online forum. ASRM now uses "directed (identified)" for these arrangements in place of "known."² Because no program matched you, you need your own legal agreements and logistics, and our guide to private embryo donation matches and independent coordination walks through those steps.

Terminology from the ASRM 2022 committee opinion.² Open ID details reflect Donor Nexus profile options and vary by profile.¹

Why can't anonymity be guaranteed in embryo donation?

Anonymity can't be guaranteed because consumer DNA databases now hold genetic data from tens of millions of people, and a match with a relative can point toward a donating family without any program records being shared. Ancestry says its consumer DNA network includes more than 30 million people,³ and NPR reported in June 2025 that 23andMe has more than 15 million customers.⁴ A donor-conceived person, a genetic sibling, or a cousin who takes one of these tests may find relatives, even if neither family planned for that connection.

ASRM's 2018 ethics opinion on informing offspring made the same point, explaining that online personal information and advances in DNA tracing have made it easier for donor-conceived people to locate donors with only non-identifying details, so providers can no longer guarantee anonymity.⁵ For you, choosing a nonidentified profile is a decision about what the program shares, and it helps to plan for the possibility that your child may someday learn more on their own.

Do any state laws require donor identity release?

Colorado's law does, for certain donations made through an agency, bank, or clinic. The state's donor-conceived persons law (Colorado Revised Statutes, Title 25, Article 57) requires gamete agencies, gamete banks, and fertility clinics to have each donor sign a declaration agreeing to disclose their identity to a donor-conceived person who requests it at 18 or older.⁶ That requirement applies to gametes collected, and embryos formed with gametes collected, by an agency, bank, or clinic on or after January 1, 2025, for recipients who were unknown to the donor at the time of donation.⁶ The law's limit of 25 families per donor does not include embryo donations from one family to another.⁷ Laws vary by state and continue to change, so talk with a family law attorney about how they apply to your situation.

How does openness work in the Donor Embryo Program?

Openness in the Donor Embryo Program starts with the donating family's preference, which is listed on each profile, so you know whether a donation is nonidentified or open ID before you secure embryos.¹ You can also filter the embryo bank by open ID preference. Donor Nexus follows a medical tissue donation model, and ASRM's 2023 ethics opinion notes that calling embryo donation "adoption" is inaccurate,⁸ so openness here is set through profile preferences and signed agreements instead of adoption-style home studies.

What can an open ID arrangement include?

An open ID arrangement can include one or more of the following options, and each profile shows which ones the donating family has chosen:

• Release of identifying information to the donor-conceived person at 18 or older, on request.¹
• Facilitated video calls without identity disclosure, available on some profiles.¹
• Notification to the donating family once an ongoing pregnancy or live birth occurs, if they ask for it.
• Sharing your contact information with the donating family once you reach an ongoing pregnancy at 12 weeks, through a signed open ID addendum.
• Ongoing contact that can range from yearly phone calls and photos to contact limited to medical necessity.

Because these options vary by profile and none applies automatically, read the preferences closely and ask the Donor Nexus team what the donating family has agreed to before you secure embryos. That conversation helps your expectations and the donating family's line up from the beginning.

What stipulations can donating families add?

Donating families can add stipulations about the recipients they hope to match with, and these appear with their openness preference. Examples include asking for a letter from the intended parents that the donating family can approve or decline, preferring a heterosexual married couple, or preferring recipients who are LGBTQ+ affirming. These preferences belong to each donating family. The Donor Embryo Program itself is non-religious and non-discriminatory, and it welcomes single parents, same-sex couples, unmarried partners, and married couples.¹ If a profile's stipulations don't fit your family, you can keep browsing, since the program has no wait list.

Does your openness choice affect how you talk with your child?

Your openness choice shapes what information your child can access later, while the decision to tell your child about their origins is a separate one that ASRM strongly encourages. In its 2018 ethics opinion, ASRM described disclosure to donor-conceived people as strongly encouraged and ultimately the choice of the recipient parents.⁵

Research on timing supports starting early. In a longitudinal study that followed families from the time children were 1 until they were 14, Ilioi and colleagues found more positive family relationships and higher adolescent wellbeing among young people who had been told about their biological origins before age 7.⁹ In embryo donation, you are not genetically related to your baby, but you carry the pregnancy, and that story can be part of what you share from the start.

With a nonidentified donation, you can still tell your child how your family began and share the non-identifying profile details you received. With an open ID donation, you can also explain that the donating family agreed to share more, whether that means identity at 18 or contact arranged sooner. Our guide to explaining donor conception to your child offers age-appropriate language for those early conversations.

How do you decide which level of openness fits your family?

You can decide by talking through a short set of questions with your partner, or with a counselor if you are parenting solo, before you browse, and then using the answers to narrow the profiles you consider:

1. How much do you want your child to be able to learn about the donating family, and at what age?
2. If your child or someone in the donating family found the other through a DNA test, how would you want to respond?
3. Would you welcome contact during pregnancy or your child's early years, or would you prefer identity release only if your child asks at 18?
4. How do you feel about your child and any genetic siblings in the donating family knowing about one another?
5. Are you comfortable with the donating family receiving your contact information after an ongoing pregnancy?
6. Would you write a letter to a donating family that asks for one?
7. How does each option fit with the way you plan to tell your child about their origins?
8. Do you and your partner agree, and if not, what would help you reach a shared answer?

Hearing from other families can help your answers take shape. One donating family's story of an open embryo donation that connected three families shows how ongoing contact has looked for them over several years.

What if you are the family donating embryos?

If you are donating embryos, you choose between an open ID or nonidentified donation and can add stipulations for recipients, and there is no cost to donate through Donor Nexus. Our guide to why families donate embryos and how donating works covers the process from the donor side.

Frequently asked questions about open ID and nonidentified embryo donation

Is open embryo donation the same as open embryo adoption?

The two phrases describe similar openness, but embryo adoption is a different legal framework that borrows steps such as home studies from child adoption. ASRM's 2023 ethics opinion calls the term adoption inaccurate for embryos. Donor Nexus uses a medical tissue donation model, and each donating family sets openness on its profile.

Can a nonidentified donation become open later?

Donor Nexus doesn't share identities in a nonidentified donation, and your agreement sets what the program shares. Connections can still happen outside the program, for example when a donor-conceived person or a relative takes a consumer DNA test. Deciding ahead of time how you would respond can make that moment easier if it comes.

Can I filter donor embryo profiles by openness preference?

Yes. After you register for free and browse the Donor Nexus embryo bank, you can filter profiles by open ID preference, along with ethnicity and genetic testing. Each profile lists the donating family's openness preference and any stipulations, so you can compare options before you secure embryos and begin paperwork.

Does open ID mean ongoing contact with the donating family?

Not necessarily. On Donor Nexus profiles, open ID means the donating family agreed to identity release when the donor-conceived person is 18 or older and asks for it. Some profiles add facilitated video calls or contact after an ongoing pregnancy, and others keep contact minimal, so read each profile's preferences and ask the team.

Should we tell our child even if the donation is nonidentified?

ASRM strongly encourages parents to tell children they were conceived through donation, and the decision remains yours. Because consumer DNA testing makes it easier for donor-conceived people to find genetic relatives on their own, hearing the story first from you, in age-appropriate words, can spare your child an unexpected discovery later.

When you are ready to compare profiles, register for free to browse the Donor Nexus embryo bank and filter by openness preference. If you have questions about a specific donating family's preferences, contact the team at info@donornexus.com or +1 (949) 433-5635, Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Pacific, or learn more about embryo donation at Donor Nexus, including costs and each step from profile to transfer.

Sources

1. Donor Nexus. Donor Embryo Program. Accessed September 2026. donornexus.com/embryo-donation.
2. American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Updated terminology for gamete and embryo donors: directed (identified) to replace "known" and nonidentified to replace "anonymous": a committee opinion. Fertility and Sterility. 2022;118:75-78. asrm.org.
3. Ancestry. Company facts. Accessed September 2026. ancestry.com.
4. Ruwitch J. Judge OKs sale of 23andMe, and its trove of DNA data, to a nonprofit led by its founder. NPR. June 30, 2025. npr.org.
5. Ethics Committee of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Informing offspring of their conception by gamete or embryo donation: an Ethics Committee opinion. Fertility and Sterility. 2018;109:601-605. asrm.org.
6. Colorado Revised Statutes § 25-57-105. Declaration regarding disclosure of identifying information and medical history, applicability. codes.findlaw.com.
7. Colorado Revised Statutes § 25-57-109. Donor age limits, limits on number of families per donor, limits on egg-retrieval cycles per ovum donor, rules, applicability. codes.findlaw.com.
8. Ethics Committee of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Defining embryo donation: an Ethics Committee opinion. Fertility and Sterility. 2023;119:944-947. asrm.org.
9. Ilioi E, Blake L, Jadva V, Roman G, Golombok S. The role of age of disclosure of biological origins in the psychological wellbeing of adolescents conceived by reproductive donation: a longitudinal study from age 1 to age 14. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. 2017;58(3):315-324. doi:10.1111/jcpp.12667.

Related reading

Private Embryo Donation Match vs. AgencyCompare a private match on your own with Independent Match Embryo Coordination and the Donor Embryo Program.Read the guideHow to Choose a Donor EmbryoWhat donor embryo profiles show, from embryo grade and genetic testing to family health history.Read the guideWhy Families Donate EmbryosHow donating your remaining embryos to another family works and what donors can choose.Read the guide