Sperm donor anonymity case opens in B.C. Appeal Court

The controversial issue of the anonymity of sperm donorsis before the B.C. Court of Appeal on Tuesday.

The provincial government is appealing a lower court ruling last yearthat struck down the law protectingthe identity of donors.

The issue was initially brought before the B.C. Supreme Court by Olivia Prattenborn in 1982who wanted to learn more about the identity of her biological father.

At the previous hearing,Pratten testified that theVancouver doctor who performed the artificial insemination of Pratten's mothertold her only that her father was a stocky, Caucasian medical student with blue eyes, brown hair, and type-A blood.

The doctor also told Pratten, 29, who isan editor with Thomson Reuters, that the sperm donor records had been legally destroyed.

The court ruled in Pratten's favour in May 2011, sayingthat the law protecting sperm donors anonymity discriminated against the rights of the children born by artificial insemination.

Pratten said she's disappointed the B.C. government is appealing the ruling, but she isn't surprised.

"Ive been told it will probably go to the Supreme Court of Canada and I knew when I got involved with this," Pratten told CBC News. "But it was disappointing."

The court also told the province it had to rewrite the law within 15 months to bring it in line with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Pratten suspectsthe government is stalling for time.

"Bureaucracy doesnt like to move fast. This is a delaying tactic," she said.

The appeal is scheduled to lasttwo days.