UK: Donor sprem increasingly scarce due to loss of guaranteed anonymity

Submitted by Matt on Thu, 2008-06-26 19:45

Looks like their evil plan backfired and the potential donors got some smarts. Well, did they really think we were *that stupid*? Alas, some guys still are. But this is hopeful news. Excerpt:

'The removal of anonymity from sperm and egg donors has provoked a crisis in fertility treatment that is denying couples the chance to try for a baby.

Infertility therapy with donated sperm has collapsed to the lowest levels since records began, according to the first official figures, seen by The Times, since the Government banned anonymous donation in 2005.

The number of women treated with donated sperm fell by about 20 per cent, from 2,727 in 2005 to 2,107 in 2006, the first full year after the change. The number of donor insemination treatment cycles fell by 30 per cent over the same period.'

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When sperm donors start getting sacked for child support for the offspring sired by their donated sperm... did anyone REALLY expect anything different?
G_R

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Submitted by Gunner Retired on Sat, 2008-07-12 06:34

If you donate through a licensed clinic in the UK, under UK law you are NOT financially responsible.

BUT if you donate through a private agreement (like the man I think Gunner Retired was referring to) you can be chased. As far as I know, that man was asked by the lesbian couple to provide the sperm, but once the child was born actually ended up being more of a father figure than a sperm donor. He was then chased by the Child Support Agency when the couple split up.

Basically, if you DON'T donate through a clinic, who is to say it wasn't a one-night stand? A clinic can verify that it certainly wasn't!

This is what the UK's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority's website says about this.

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Do I have any rights or responsibilities towards a child created from my donation?
Not if you donate through an HFEA-licensed clinic, which must conform to strict medical, legal and ethical standards. This ensures that everyone involved in the donation process is clear about their legal position and is protected by the law.

You will have no legal obligation to any child created from your donation - you will not be their legal parent and you will not be named on the birth certificate. Neither do you have any rights over how the child will be brought up, and you will not be asked to support the child financially.

You will be asked to provide information about yourself which a child born from your donation can access when they are 18 years old (see The HFEA Register ? for donors).

If you plan to donate outside a licensed clinic, for example if you are considering donating fresh sperm, you may wish to consult a solicitor first. Where fresh donated sperm is used outside an HFEA licensed clinic, the donor is considered by law to be the child's legal father, with all the responsibilities and rights that involves.

http://www.hfea.gov.uk/en/1205.html#do_I_have_any

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And as to exactly how much anonymity has had to do with the drop in sperm donations - it's far more complicated than that. The number of sperm donors has been dropping and dropping since 2000 - way before the anonymity law changed (2005).

Best wishes
PJ

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Submitted by Pat J on Sun, 2008-06-29 10:35

It almost seems like men always get the short end of the stick when it comes to fathering children. Every way a man can get screwed in this scenario has been documented too many times to count.

Evan AKA X-TRNL
Real Men Don't Take Abuse!

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Submitted by xtrnl on Mon, 2008-06-30 00:54