Sperm donation
In the absence of specific legal protection, courts may order a sperm donor to pay child support or recognize his parental rights, and will invariably do so where the insemination is carried out by natural, as opposed to artificial means.
[8] The suit asserts that false information was presented regarding a donor who should not have been considered an appropriate candidate for a sperm donation program because of a diagnosis of ADHD.
The development of fertility medicine such as ICSI has enabled more and more heterosexual couples to produce their own children without the use of third-party gametes which has reduced the demand for sperm donation from this social group.
The sexual and physical integrity of both parties is preserved and in this sense the introduction of donor sperm into a woman by artificial means may be seen as satisfying a social rather than a purely medical need.
Depending on local law and on private arrangements, men may donate anonymously or agree to provide identifying information to their offspring in the future.
Donors may undergo the same kind of checks and tests required by a sperm bank, although clinics and agencies are not necessarily subject to the same regulatory regimes.
A number of web sites seek to link recipients with sperm donors, while advertisements in gay and lesbian publications are common.
Private donations may be free of charge — avoiding the significant costs of a more medicalised insemination - and fresh rather than frozen semen is generally deemed to increase the chances of pregnancy.
However, the laws of some countries (e.g., New Zealand) recognize written agreements between donors and recipients in a similar way to donations through a sperm bank.
That case held that where the parties agreed in advance of the conception that the resulting child would not be the legal responsibility of the man, the courts would uphold that agreement.
It may lack some of the safety precautions and screenings usually built into the artificial insemination process[20] but proponents claim that it produces higher pregnancy rates.
[22] A variation of NI is PI, or partial intercourse, where penetration by the donor takes place immediately before ejaculation, thus avoiding prolonged physical contact between the parties.
The screening procedure generally also includes a quarantine period, in which the samples are frozen and stored for at least six months after which the donor will be re-tested for sexually transmitted diseases (STIs).
The cost to the sperm bank for such tests is considerable,[clarification needed] which normally means that clinics may use the same donor to produce a number of pregnancies in multiple women.
[44] Within heterosexual couples, many men report resisting or having difficulty accepting sperm donation from another man, as it is often viewed as being akin to being cuckolded.
[39] Adolescents born through sperm donation to lesbian mothers have reported themselves to be academically successful, with active friendship networks, strong family bonds, and overall high ratings of well-being.
[39] A systematic review came to the result that altruism and financial compensation are the main motivations to donate, and to a lesser degree procreation or genetic fatherhood and questions about the donor's own fertility.
[47] In the UK, the National Gamete Donation Trust[48] is a charity which provides information, advice and support for people wishing to become egg, sperm or embryo donors.
[11] A systematic review in 2012 came to the conclusion that the psychosocial needs and experiences of the donors, and their follow-up and counselling are largely neglected in studies on sperm donation.
[50] Generally, these jurisdictions require sperm banks to keep up-to-date records and to release identifying information about the donor to his offspring after they reach a certain age (15–18).
[53] For children conceived by an anonymous donor, the impossibility of contacting a biological father or the inability to find information about him can potentially be psychologically burdensome.
[11] An Australian study concluded that potential donors who would still be willing to donate without a guarantee of anonymity were not automatically more open to extended or intimate contact with offspring.
The number of pregnancies obtained from an individual donor in each country where his sperm is exported will be subject to any local or national rules which apply.
[64] Korean Bioethics Law prohibits selling and buying of sperm between clinics, and each donor may only help giving rise to a child to one single couple.
One item of research has suggested that donor children have a greater likelihood of substance abuse, mental illness and criminal behavior when grown.
The case was not revealed until 1909, when a letter by Addison Davis Hard appeared in the American journal Medical World, highlighting the procedure.
[89] Barton, a gynecologist, founded a clinic in London which offered artificial insemination using donor sperm for women whose husbands were infertile.
"[97] However, the following year, Georgia became the first state to pass a statute legitimizing children conceived by donor insemination, on the condition that both the husband and wife consented in advance in writing to the procedure.
Donors were informed that up to ten births could be produced from their sperm, but the words "other than in exceptional circumstances" in the consent form could potentially lead to many more pregnancies.
These concerns led to the SEED Report[101] commissioned by the HFEA, which was in turn followed by new legislation and rules meant to protect the interests of donors.
