STUDY QUESTION: How do counsellors facilitating known 'open' embryo donation (ED) experience their roles and responsibilities? SUMMARY ANSWER: Counsellors regard counselling for ED as entailing significant responsibility to ensure that the longer-term implications of the practice are understood and that positive relationships are established that will promote the well-being of donors, recipients, their families and the children involved. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY: While counselling is frequently recommended in third-party assisted reproduction, there has been little research into the experiences of counsellors and their perceptions of their roles and responsibilities. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION: Fertility counsellors were interviewed between March and October 2012 as to their experiences and perceptions of their roles and responsibilities. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS: Fertility counsellors were recruited from across New Zealand and interviews were conducted with all nine counsellors involved in ED counselling. Interview data were analysed thematically to identify main themes. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE: Counsellors regard ED as a complex practice with enduring implications arising from the genetic link between donors and offspring, which is seen to bestow immutable social ties. They see their role as the provision of implications counselling and the facilitation of ongoing positive relationships between donors and recipients in an 'open' context. Counsellors express concern about their responsibility for promoting the welfare of all parties--including that of the child--the limitations of counselling, and the conflation of assessment and counselling roles. LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION: Experiences of counselling for ED may change over time as longer-term outcomes become more apparent. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS: Further consideration needs to be given as to how the welfare principle may best be operationalised in counselling practice, particularly in contexts of 'open' donation. STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTERESTS: This study was funded by an AUT University Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences research grant. The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.