sperm donations...

mani · 07-05-2006, 03:53

no no no! no sperm donations wanted and women calm urselves down

i'm not donatin!! *L*

ok just a question - after a sperm child turns 18 it has the rite in the uk to find out who his biological parent is...

what if the biological father tries to locate the kid? does he have any right to do so?

just listenin to the radio how sperm is now being brought over from the usa as the shortage is so bad now... and its cuz of this.

WillowTheWhisp · 07-05-2006, 07:21

When these sort of donations began it was thought of a bit like donating blood. You don't expect the person you donated blood to to try to trace you do you? It must be very off putting to think that 18 years down the line a child you have no emotional connection with is possibly going to turn up and call you Daddy. No wonder the number of donors has dropped.

lettie · 07-05-2006, 07:47

I'm not 100% sure Mani but I think that the donor has no rights to contact the child....if there is one. I think that donors are given no information at all, at the time, as to where their donation went. Interestingly, imagine this........... Sperm donation was quite a popular pastime amongst students etc. in the past, especially USA because I think that they receive a small amount of money for the donation. With no record of true paternity, when the children grow up and get married, how do they know that they have not married one of their biological father's offspring? An unlikely scenario, but one which we had to have an ethical debate about back in the late 80's as student nurses.......Documentation regarding donors was not as good back then as it is now.

WillowTheWhisp · 07-05-2006, 07:51

That's something I've wondered about in the past too Lettie regarding adopted children, or children of a single mother who have never known who their father was. There could be other children of the same father that the mother doesn't even know about.

It sounds a bit like that song "Gossip Calypso"

garinda · 07-05-2006, 09:13

I'm not sure but I suspect it'll be similar to adoption. A child would have the right to know it's parent, but like adoption a natural parent can't contact their now grown up child, just offer their details to the appropriate authorities if the child enquires.

When sperm donations were seen as an act of kindness, or as a way to make a small amount of money, anonymity seemed guaranteed. Now the law's moved the goal posts. Next they'll be seeking back payements of child support. I'm glad I never did it, unlike some of my contemporaries at college.

jimmi5bellies · 07-05-2006, 11:17

Do they not blood test in America before they are married. Somehow i always thought they did. Dont know why i think this, maybe it was a film or documentary i saw.

Well it is Sunday, and my brain is still in Birmingham from last night

lettie · 07-05-2006, 11:30

They do blood test in the US before marriage (not that it makes much difference because many couples will have already slept together by then), but I'm unsure whether they test for DNA..... We certainly don't blood test in this country which makes me wonder how many people have inadvertantly married their relatives.

garinda · 07-05-2006, 13:51

From today's Observer-

'According to the latest figures released by the HFEA, in May last year, one month after the new law removing anonymity was passed, just 12 British men donated sperm to the banks that supply the contry's 21 fertility clinics. In June this figure dropped down to only 10.'

Since one teaspoonful supposedly contains millions of sperm, ten doners will be plenty, although future generations might look alarmingly alike if they have literally come from such a small gene pool.

WillowTheWhisp · 07-05-2006, 15:18

And more chance of them marrying a sibling if they've come from such a small gene pool too.

mani · 07-05-2006, 15:23

apparently there's only one donor in the whole of oxfordshire

go on my son!! repopulate it! *L*

i guess thats where the cheap eastern european treatment comes in

in usa u have all sorts of details of who the ppl are how they look etc

gbut i'm sure ppl lie cuz u have all these top scientists who are listed -

garinda · 07-05-2006, 15:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by mani

apparently there's only one donor in the whole of oxfordshire

That was in the Observer's report too.

Funny that, I always though Oxford was full of *******.

Mancie · 10-05-2006, 07:34

I was thinking about being a sperm donor myself once but was told you had to do a week in hand, so didn't bother

lettie · 10-05-2006, 11:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mancie

I was thinking about being a sperm donor myself once but was told you had to do a week in hand, so didn't bother

With the shortage of donors, after your week in hand........you could be working hand over fist...