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Professor Seema Mohapatra spoke at Loyola University Chicago School of Law on January 21 as part of Loyola’s Faculty Speaker Series which brings distinguished legal scholars to Loyola to discuss current and emerging issues of law related to their areas of interest and expertise.

Professor Mohapatra presented her work in progress “‘Anonymous’ Gamete Donation and the False Promise of Privacy.” In this article, which will be submitted for publication next month, Professor Mohapatra makes the case that gamete donor anonymity is no longer possible and that sperm banks and clinics are still promising anonymity to consumers. She argues that this is a problem for both those who buy and sell sperm, as well as for donor-conceived individuals. She examines legal and policy solutions to this problem.

Professor Mohapatra argues that private law, such as contract law and tort law, currently hold limited promise to actually thwart false promises but consumer protection laws can be used creatively to hold clinics and sperm and egg banks liable for claiming anonymity when such anonymity no longer exists.

Professor Mohapatra is an associate professor of law at IU McKinney School of Law and Dean’s Fellow. She is an expert in the areas of health care law, public health law, bioethics, torts and international health and family law.