Infertile couples adopting an embryo may have to undergo police checks to determine if they are suitable recipients.
The move is being considered by the National Ethics Committee on Assisted Human Reproduction (NECAHR) as it sets guidelines for embryo donation for reproductive purposes.
Embryo donation has never been officially done in New Zealand but could happen under the Human Assisted Reproductive Technology Bill, which is set to be passed next year.
Once passed, the controversial area of assisted human reproductive technology will be dealt with by an ethics committee approving individual applications.
As part of the possible guidelines, the committee is considering having the same procedures in place for embryo donation as for couples wanting to adopt a child.
Anyone wanting to adopt a child must give permission to the Adoption and Services Unit to request a police check as part of their screening process.
The committee has not decided what criminal past would prohibit would-be parents from receiving an embryo.
NECAHR chair Sylvia Rumball said the committee had not decided what its stance would be.
"The question has been raised with us and we will be seeking opinions from other organisations and official bodies such as Child, Youth and Family and the Human Rights Commission. The guidelines will be in a draft form and should be out for consultation by the end of December."
In Denmark, the world's biggest sperm bank - Cryos International Sperm Bank in Aarhus - has been forced to start screening donors for any criminal record after it emerged that a man who killed his two baby daughters was on its books.
Horrified parents who gave birth after receiving semen from the bank have flooded the clinic with calls seeking reassurance that the killer, Heine Nielsen, was not the father of their child. The clinic said none of his samples had been used.
In New Zealand, potential sperm donors undergo genetic screening, physical health screening and talk to a doctor and a counsellor about why they want to be a donor. They are not paid for their donation and do not undergo police checks.
Dr Richard Fisher of Auckland's Fertility Associates said if donors wanted to withhold information, including any previous criminal convictions, they could.
But New Zealand attracted a different kind of donor because no money was given for the donation, he said.
He said donors were often already parents who had thought about becoming a donor - they then went through all the checks and spoke to counsellors about why they wanted to donate.
"The motivation is very different," Fisher said. "Although there is a risk (that information would be withheld), it would be extremely low."
Fisher said research suggested police checks would not give any extra genetic information.
"You would be hard-pressed to find research suggesting that doing a police check would give you any kind of genetic information anyway."
