[Anonymity and gamete donation]

In France the gamete donation is based on the major principles: anonymity, no payment, solidarity and this mode of procreation can be used only if a medical indication is present in recipient couples. In prerequisite and during the revision of the law of bioethics, a wide debate took place about the anonymity of gamete donation. The objectives of this article is to review the concept of the anonymity and its links with the questions of the origin, the secret of the modalities of the conception and the mourning of the fertility, children, donors and the recipient couples waiting for gamete donation. The international situation is also addressed. The contribution of the CECOS, the centers which practice the sperm and the egg donations is highlighted. The anonymity cannot be discussed without addressing all these links and the complexity of this particular mode of conception. To date, the French society has maintained the anonymity in the new law of bioethics.