Potential national voluntary gamete donor registry discussed at recent health law symposium.

26. Id. (Levine v. Wyeth), at 186 (Congress explicitly amended the FDCA to emphasize that it overruled state law only where there was a "direct and positive conflict" between state law and the FDCA). 27. See Wyeth, granting cert., supra note 4. (interpreting the FDCA to preempt state regulations dealing with safety, including state tort actions). (refusing to allow the FDA to regulate tobacco products after the agency had insisted for years that it lacked the authority to do so). Despite exponential growth in the past decades, most aspects of the assisted reproductive technology (ART) industry remain largely unregulated; recently, pressure has been mounting for coordinated study and regulation of this developing industry.' On March 28, 2008, lawyers, health care professionals, representatives from sperm banks, consumers of ART services , and other stakeholders in ART industry gathered at DePaul University College of Law for its Health Law Institute's symposium titled "Track-ing Change: The Feasibility of a Voluntary Gamete Donor Registry in the United States." The implementation of a registry would mark the first effort in the United States to centralize, maintain, and disseminate information about gamete donors by collecting and storing genetic and identifying information about egg and sperm donors. 2 Establishing a registry requires balancing the interests of donor-conceived individuals, their parents, gamete donors, health care professionals, and society as a whole, as well as ensuring the privacy and safety of all involved. Further, the consideration of a voluntary registry invites debate about the desirability of a mandatory registry and increased systematic consideration and regulation of ART generally. Background Currently, it is impossible to know the exact number of donor-conceived individuals in the United States because no federal, state, or private agency tracks donor-conceived births. 4 The ART industry in the United States is regulated primarily by voluntary guidelines issued by organizations such as the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM); as these guidelines are advisory only,