British sperm banks running on empty
Categories: Pregnancy & birth, Medical conditions
Everybody panic! They're running out of sperm in England! Okay, sorry, I couldn't resist. Anyway, it seems that fertility clinics have run into a serious shortage of donated genetic material thanks to a change which will allow children conceived using donated sperm to learn the identity of their genetic father once they turn 18. It seems that potential donors want to remain anonymous and are no longer contributing as they once were.According to a BBC investigation, two-thirds of the clinics that responded to questioning either didn't have enough sperm or had none at all. Here in California, the identities of sperm donors have available since the early 80's; several European countries have had similar policies since the 80's as well.
On the one hand, I can see that someone might not want an 18-year-old knocking (figuratively or literally) on their door and saying "Hi Daddy!" But on the other hand, I don't think it's really that big a deal either. If you really don't want any contact with offspring born courtesy of your donation, you just say so and that's the end of that. What do you think?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jonathon 9-29-2006 @ 10:18AM
Slightly more difficult to be detached from the biology of the whole thing when an actual offspring shows up at your door to remind you of the stuff you did to get cash when you were broke in college.
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trisha 9-29-2006 @ 11:54AM
Ya know, if I was concieved from donated sperm, I don't think I would really want to know who the doner was, I would hope it would be enough to know the parents that raised me are my parents and I wouldn't need to find my genetic/biological father, I kind of feel the same way with adoption. But it's different too, with a sperm doner, they did basically nothing to contribute to your life- (or all, ironically :) they donated sperm to a thrid party, never met your parents, etc. A biological mother did a whole lot more, she actually carried the baby through pregnancy and gave birth to a baby and then gave the baby away. Having been through pregnancy and birth, I know that takes a whole lot more than donated sperm....
So, enough said, I hope people can leave well enough alone.
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Chaucey 9-30-2006 @ 3:12AM
I'm not 100% sure on this, but I think in England there is no financial reward for donating sperm. In New Zealand where I come from there is no payment either.
So if you don't get paid AND the anonymity is gone then it isn't that appealing.
In New Zealand there have been interesting debates lately about whether homosexual men should be sperm donors. But without them they'll be even less supply than there currently is.
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Christine 10-02-2006 @ 1:05PM
I think there is a whole lot of underplaying of the importance of genetics here.
Everyone should have the right to know where they come from... I for one am feircly loyal to my biological dad -- and I am just like him. I never accepted anyone else in that role. And I never fit with anyone else. Just because people raise you... doesnt mean you fit with them. Knowing who you actually are IS important.
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