Women should not turn to sex with sperm donors to have a baby

TV show ‘This Morning’ recently discussed women turning to sex with sperm donors in order to have a baby. Sally Windsor joined Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby on the sofa on Thursday and said more and more women are turning to websites where men offer natural insemination, as they believe they have a better chance of conceiving. Sally explained that she herself once considered using the websites as she wanted to have a baby. She said: "As woman we can do this if we want to, there's no more of this idea of sitting back and waiting to become parents - that's a little bit archaic. "We can take things into our own hands. If a woman wants to become a mother and they haven't met the right person, there's no sitting around feeling sorry for themselves. ‘Sperm banks are inaccessible and these are the lengths women are going to.’ said Sally Windsor Also joining in on the debate was Kelly Rose Bradford who argued that women should never resort to sperm donor websites, as it's not fair on the child. "(The websites are) bringing conceptions and starting a family down to scouring the internet for sperm," she said. Kelly Rose also highlighted the safety risks involved in using the sperm donor websites. "I would question why these men are offering these services, it's almost like it's just some kind of sexual gratification for them." "It's very different to have a plan in place and go into this situation which could potentially put your health at risk, could potentially put your life at risk, because you don't know who you are meeting." Erika co-founder of Pride Angel says "Women should not go down the route of natural insemination as a method of conception. If a donor is pushing this form of conception then his motives for creating a child are not the right ones." "A minority of donors may suggest this form of conceiving over home insemination, saying that it is more effective than artificial insemination. However this is simply not true, home insemination performed correctly at the right times of the month, is just as effective and sometimes more effective for achieving pregnancy." Pride Angel is the only sperm donor website which screens all profiles and does not allow sperm donors to offer natural insemination or request payment for sperm. Erika said "The majority of our donors genuinely want to help someone create a new life for all the right reasons." Article: 2nd May 2013 www.u.tv

Known sperm donors discussed on Woman's hour

Natalie was interviewed on BBC Radio 4 Woman’s Hour on Thursday on the topic of private sperm donation. The programme feature NGA client Mark Langridge (the donor who has been pursued for child support by the CSA twelve years after donating his sperm to a lesbian couple) and Laura Witjens, Chief Executive of the National Gamete Donation Trust, with Jenni Murray asking ‘what makes a father’? You can listen to Natalie on Woman’s Hour here. At NGA, we advise many prospective parents (and donors) considering a known donation arrangement, helping them to set things up with the strongest foundations. We sadly also help people whose known donation arrangements have broken down, both representing donors pursued for child support and lesbian and solo parents whose donors seek more involvement than they want. You can find out more about known donation and about known donor disputes.

US bill to give equal rights for same-sex couples accessing fertility treatment

SAN FRANCISCO — California Governor Jerry Brown (D) on Friday signed a bill to ensure that women in same-sex relationships and single women can access fertility services on the same terms as women in opposite-sex relationships. Assembly Bill 2356, authored by Assembly member Nancy Skinner and co-sponsored by Equality California and the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), allows women using known donors to access certain fertility procedures that are less expensive and more effective. “Women’s issues once again are at the forefront of national debate. AB 2356 ensures that all women have equal access to fertility services,” said Skinner. “I am grateful Governor Brown signed legislation that will eliminate barriers LGBT and single women confront when seeking to conceive.” “The decisions regarding building a family are a core freedom in California. Same-sex couples have faced many barriers in forming families, including unequal access to fertility healthcare,” said Clarissa Filgioun, Equality California Board President. “This unequal treatment has, heartbreakingly, denied many couples the opportunity to conceive a child of their own. Signing AB 2356 works to remedy that disparity, putting the joy of having a child and building a family within the reach of all loving families,” said Filgioun. With this signing, women who seek fertility services with a known donor who is not their partner are no longer subject to time-consuming and costly repeat testing that decreases the chance of successful conception. Now women who have unsuccessfully attempted to conceive at home with a known donor have access the same fertility services available to different-sex couples. “This law allows doctors and providers to provide services that are currently only available to different-sex couples to people using known donors,” said NCLR Family Protection Project Director Cathy Sakimura. “Many intended parents who would not otherwise be able to afford any fertility services will be able to access safer and more effective procedures under this new law. We applaud the Governor and the Legislature for recognizing that same-sex couples, transgender people, and single women should have equal access to fertility services,” said Sakimura. The law will go into effect on January 1, 2013. Meanwhile, Brown has not yet taken action on a bill passed August 30 that would prohibit “ex-gay” reparative therapy for minors — he has until midnight on Sunday to sign it. Article: 28th September 2012 www.lgbtqnation.com

Another successful year at the Alternative Parenting Show

Another successful year at the Alternative Parenting Show 2012. Pride Angel had hundreds of visitors to our stand on Saturday. It was fantastic to be able to get the message out to many more single women and lesbian couples who were considering their options of choosing a known donor or thinking about co-parenting. There were also many single men and gay couples who were seriously considering co-parenting as an option which they previously had not considered would be a feasible option of becoming a parent. For those considering surrogacy many wished to find a known egg donor through Pride Angel, so that they could pass on more information to their child about their genetic origins. We really enjoyed being able to meet people face-to-face at our stand to be able to discuss the different parenting options available and how Pride Angel can help many people achieve their family. Many people at the show asked questions about the following options: • Single men and women wanting to co-parent • Gay couples wanting to co-parent and be hands on fathers • Gay couples wishing to find an egg donor for a surrogacy arrangement • Lesbian couples wanting to choose a known donor who could be part of their child’s life • Women wishing to donate eggs and become an aunty to the child • Women looking for advice on how to conceive using home insemination • Taking a known donor to a fertility clinic, what is the process • What kind of involvement does a known donor really have • How does a donor child feel about their donor father • What health screening tests are required when undertaking insemination at home • What is the legal position when using a known donor or co-parenting Erika co-founder of Pride Angel said ‘It was lovely to get so much positive feedback from people about Pride Angel’ ‘We would love to hear far more feedback from our users to see how they get on along their journey and of course it’s lovely to hear all the success stories’

Canadian sperm donor refused access to 18 month toddler until trial

The potential risk of introducing a Northern Ontario toddler to his genetic father at this point in his life is too major to be ignored, a judge has ruled in turning down a sperm donor’s bid for interim access to the boy, now being raised by his biological mother and her lesbian partner. The decision marks the first round in a key test case of the uncertain law around exchanges of human sperm and egg, as increasing numbers of Canadian children are born by “assisted” reproduction. A full trial is scheduled for this October to consider the man’s demand for paternity rights – and add some clarity to the tangled issue – but Rene deBlois had requested access to the boy pending the final wrap-up of the case. The two women had argued that Tyler Lavigne, who has never met Mr. deBlois, might become confused and insecure if the 22-month-old encountered the donor now, noted Justice Norman Karam of the Ontario Superior Court in Cochrane, Ont. “Despite the child’s young age, it is impossible to know what disclosure of [Mr. deBlois’s] status as his parent might mean,” said the judge. “All circumstances considered, the risk of there being an adverse effect to the child is too great to ignore.” Justice Karam said he considered imposing limitations on the access to deal with those concerns, but decided the restrictions would be virtually impossible to enforce. He said he also found “very convincing” the couple’s argument that by allowing access to the child now, he could inadvertently affect the outcome of the trial, expected to be closely watched by legal analysts, parent groups and others. Selena Kazimierski and Nicole Lavigne say the donor – a former high-school acquaintance of Ms. Lavigne – signed an agreement that he would never contact the baby born in October, 2010, with the help of his artificially inseminated sperm. They fear the family life they have built for their son would be unduly disrupted if he that changed. The donor says he no longer honours the deal, partly because Ms. Lavigne failed to follow through on her verbal commitment to have a baby for him, too. It is common sense to delay creating a relationship between a child and a stranger unless there is a guarantee that the relationship will continue Legal experts say the case offers up a relatively straightforward set of facts, allowing the court to directly tackle a question overhanging many such arrangements. Growing numbers of children are being born in Canada as a result of in-vitro fertilization and other forms of assisted reproduction, often to same-sex couples. When donations are obtained anonymously from sperm banks, and in the few provinces with relevant laws, parenthood is generally uncontested. In situations where couples and single people make arrangements with sperm donors they know, however – especially in provinces that lack such legislation – the rights of the various parties remain largely unresolved. A smattering of mostly lower-court rulings have addressed the question, but most of the cases have had complicating factors, such as a past relationship between the donor and recipient. Lucia Mendonca, Mr. deBlois’s lawyer, could not be reached for comment Wednesday. Ms. Lavigne voiced relief at the ruling on interim access, saying it would have been too disruptive for everyone to allow the genetic father and son to meet, when the trial might rule Mr. deBlois has no paternity rights. “It would …. just cause pain on all sides,” she said. “It would be hard on him, if he got attached, and now ‘You’re never going to see him again.’ ” The decision correctly analyzed the law – and applied pure common sense to the situation, said Michelle Flowerday, the Toronto-based fertility and family-law lawyer representing the couple. “It is common sense to delay creating a relationship between a child and a stranger unless there is a guarantee that the relationship will continue,” she said. “There is no guarantee here. We may well succeed at trial.” The judge also said that he would not consider a legal motion by the couple to reverse an earlier decision, made when the women were represented by a different lawyer, to essentially void the sperm-donation contract. It is expected that issue will be considered at the trial, due to start Oct. 21. Justice Karam also rejected a request by Mr. deBlois for an investigation by Ontario’s Office of the Children’s Lawyer – which represents the interests of children in custody disputes – saying such a probe would be “of little value.” Article: 8th August 2012 www.nationalpost.com

Lesbian couple cut contact after sperm donor refused them more children

A lesbian couple who had their two children by the same sperm donor has spoken about their heartbreak as the father of their son and daughter destroyed their dream of a large family. Kirsty Cox and Anna Jones gave birth days apart after their gay friend donated sperm to the couple but after breaking the agreement to continue to donate the trio have fallen out. Nick Lacey, 24, is the biological father to both Alfie and Scarlett-Marie, eight months, but despite promising to stay in the children’s lives and continue to donate sperm so Kirsty and Anna could conceive again, he is no longer on in contact with the pair. The hairdresser was not present at the ‘twins’ christening last week and Anna, 27, said: ‘We’re heartbroken because we wanted more kids with him. But there’s nothing we can do. At the moment we’re not even on speaking terms with Nick.’ Anna and Kirsty, 23, who married in a civil ceremony in 2010 has previously spoken about their baby joy after they thought they would never be able to have children together. The NHS would only fund IVF for one of them and conceiving naturally was out of the question for both, so when Anna’s sister Lorraine told her hairdresser Nick about the couple’s desire for children. After a series of meetings, they all agreed that Nick would be the one to donate. 'When we found Nick everything fell into place,' Anna said when the family appeared on Daybreak earlier this year. 'If we hadn’t have found him I don’t think any of this would have happened to be honest.’ Three weeks after they started the process of artificial insemination Kirsty became pregnant and a couple of weeks later Anna became pregnant too. On November 5 last year, Kirsty gave birth to Scarlett-Marie, who was two weeks overdue. Five days later, Anna gave birth to Alfie. In February Nick said: 'Although I don’t see myself as their dad, I adore the babies and I intend to be part of their lives forever. ' I never imagined I’d have a child, and I never knew I’d have so much love for them.' Last week the christening of Alfie and Scarlett-Marie were christened at St Peter’s Church, Gloucester in front of 100 friends and family members – but not Nick. However Nick refutes the couple’s claims saying they were the ones who cut him out of their children’s lives. ‘I only heard about the christening on Facebook,’ he told The Sunday Mirror. According to Nick the trio fell out after Anna and Kirsty wanted more sperm only six months after the babies were born and when he said it was too soon, they stopped all contact. He said: ‘The babies are my flesh and blood and I want a relationship with them.’ Article: 23rd July 2012 www.dailymail.co.uk

Times magazine to do a new feature on fatherhood, can you help?

The Times Magazine is planning a big feature on the new faces of fatherhood and really wants to get in touch with men who have been known donors - possibly for friends or for a couple/person they have met online - or who are co-parenting in some way. The idea is to celebrate alternative ideas of fatherhood and what constitutes a modern family, and to explore how individuals make it work for them. We are looking for six men who have been known donors, perhaps with varying degrees of contact with the child (from none to sporadic, right up to daily) who are happy to be interviewed (phone is fine if preferred) and to attend a photoshoot at a date convenient for them (travel expenses paid if applicable; children won't be photographed). We'd be guided by them about what they are most happy to talk about, but topics covered might include: why they decided to be a known donor, how long had they known the couple/person, did they have a written agreement, what are the positives for them - are they what they expected, what kind of relationship do they have with the child and with the mother/parents, has the experience changed them, what advice would they have for others planning something similar. It's a great opportunity to inform a wide readership of the positives of alternative families, and we're really hoping people out there will agree and contact us. Many thanks for your time and best wishes to all. If you think you can help, then please contact us at Pride Angel and we will give you more information.

Sperm bank donors - A genetic roll of the dice?

Children conceived with donated sperm from sperm banks are struggling with serious genetic conditions inherited from men they have never met. Sharine and Brian Kretchmar tried a number of medical treatments to conceive a second child. After a depressing series of failures, a doctor finally advised them to find a sperm donor. For more than a year, the Yukon, Okla., couple carefully researched sperm banks and donors. The donor they chose was a family man, a Christian like them, they were told. Most important, he had a clean bill of health. His sperm was stored at the New England Cryogenic Center in Boston, and according to the laboratory’s website, all donors there were tested for various genetic conditions. So the Kretchmars took a deep breath and jumped in. After artificial insemination, Sharine Kretchmar became pregnant, and in April 2010 she gave birth to a boy they named Jaxon. But the baby failed to have a bowel movement in the first day after birth, a sign to doctors that something was wrong. Eventually Jaxon was rushed to surgery. Doctors returned with terrible news for the Kretchmars: Their baby appeared to have cystic fibrosis. “We were pretty much devastated,” said Sharine Kretchmar, 33, who works as a nurse. “At first, we weren’t convinced it was cystic fibrosis, because we knew the donor had been tested for the disease. We thought it had to be something different.” But genetic testing showed that Jaxon did carry the genes for cystic fibrosis. Sharine Kretchmar had no idea she was a carrier, but was shocked to discover that so, too, was the Kretchmars’ donor. His sperm, they would later discover, was decades old, originally donated at a laboratory halfway across the country and frozen ever since. Whether it was properly tested is a matter of dispute. Sadly, the Kretchmars’ experience is not unique. In households across the country, children conceived with donated sperm are struggling with serious groenetic conditions inherited from men they have never met. The illnesses include heart defects, spinal muscular atrophy, neurofibromatosis type 1 and fragile-X syndrome, the most common form of mental retardation in boys, among many others. Hundreds of cases have been documented, but it is likely there are thousands more, according to Wendy Kramer, founder of the Donor Sibling Registry, a website she started to help connect families with children who are offspring of the same sperm donor. Donated eggs pose a risk as well, but the threat of genetic harm from sperm donation is arguably much greater. Sperm donors are no more likely to carry genetic diseases than anybody else, but they can father a far greater number of children: 50, 100 or even 150, each a potential inheritor of flawed genes, and each a vector for making those genes more pervasive in the general population. The scale of the problem is only now becoming apparent with the advent of online communities like Kramer’s. “There needs to be oversight, and some regulation of the industry,” she said. Genetic testing optional It is not known how many children are born each year using sperm donors, because mothers of donor offspring are not required to report their births. By some estimates, there are more than 1 million children in this country conceived with donated sperm or eggs. The Food and Drug Administration requires that sperm donors be tested for communicable diseases, but there is no federal requirement that sperm banks screen for genetic diseases. Some of the better ones do anyway, in accordance with guidelines promulgated by organizations like the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, which encourages sperm banks to test donors for conditions like cystic fibrosis and mental retardation when there is a family history of the disease. Generally, the donor himself is tested, not his sperm. But compliance with those guidelines is not obligatory, and genetic testing practices vary widely across the United States. Critics of the industry are calling for mandatory and consistent medical and genetic testing of all donors. “In this day and age, when you have genetic testing available for about $200, there’s no reason sperm banks can’t provide this for clients,” Kramer said. The fertility industry, however, has long resisted the idea. “Human reproduction is an inherently risky proposition, and it always will be, so it’s impossible to remove all the risk and uncertainty of reproducing,” said Sean Tipton, director of public affairs for the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. “You’ll never be able to catch everything. As the technical capabilities to do genetic testing and screenings improve, the banks will do that. But it will be incredibly expensive to test for everything.” A lack of regulatory record-keeping also makes it difficult for sperm banks to warn related families, or even donors, when a genetic illness is discovered in one or more children. And donor families are not required to report births or illnesses to the sperm banks. Since the clinic has no way to know a donor’s sperm is flawed, it may continue to be sold long after problems have surfaced. Pamela Callum, a genetic counselor at California Cryobank, the largest sperm bank in the country, recently discovered that a donor to the bank had passed on the gene for neurofibromatosis type 1, or NF1, to five children. The case was reported in the February issue of the journal Human Reproduction. NF1 can cause benign tumors along nerves in the skin, brain and other areas, and it contributes to learning problems and an increased risk of brain tumors, leukemia and other cancers. “There were two other children who had been diagnosed with the disease, but the parents never told us,” Callum said. “If we had known earlier, we may have been able to take that donor off the catalog earlier.” “We’ll never be able to eliminate genetic diseases,” she added. “It’s just not possible. That’s why follow-up is so important.” Forming national registry Several of the largest sperm banks in the country are attempting to create a national donor gamete registry, a centralized and permanent repository for the records of egg and sperm donors, said Scott Brown, communications director for California Cryobank, a leader in the effort. Such a registry might help prevent the spread of genetic diseases among donor children by providing a way for parents to report children’s illnesses to their sperm banks, thus allowing banks to weed out donors who may be carriers. Max Jackson, 18, of San Rafael, Calif., discovered that he had inherited a deadly heart defect known as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, or HCM, when the family of one of his donor siblings — a child conceived from the same sperm donor — reported the illness to the sperm bank. The donor was tested and found to be a carrier of the disease. At least eight other children conceived with the donor’s sperm have HCM, a thickening of the heart muscle that makes it harder to pump blood and can cause sudden cardiac death. Two of them have pacemakers now, and a 2-year-old donor child died of the disease, according to a case report in The Journal of the American Medical Association. Jackson, an aspiring rapper, must take medicine to control the illness, and he has to keep his heart rate below a certain level or risk cardiac arrest. (HCM is a leading cause of heart attacks in young athletes.) He recently met his sperm donor for the first time, and learned that the man and his wife also have a child with HCM. “He said he felt horrible for giving me the disease,” Jackson said. “I think I’ve been less scared of death since I found out I have HCM. It made me realize how easily we can die. I can die when I’m just running.” The lives of the Kretchmars have been irrevocably altered by their son’s illness. Cystic fibrosis is a progressive disorder that causes thick, sticky mucus to build up in the lungs, digestive tract and other areas of the body. The life expectancy of someone with the disease is about 37 years. Every day, Jaxon, now 2, must take more than 20 pills. (He learned how to swallow pills before he could walk, his mother said.) The boy needs several nebulizer treatments daily, and he must regularly don a special vest that shakes his torso to help loosen the congestion in his body. The Kretchmars have sued New England Cryogenic Center, the sperm bank that sold them the sperm used to conceive Jaxon. As it turns out, the sperm was purchased from Rocky Mountain Cryobank in Jackson, Wyo., which closed a few years ago. The sperm was donated more than 20 years ago. A spokeswoman for the New England Cryogenic Center, Jacalyn Fallman, said her bank received documentation from Rocky Mountain Cryobank that the donor had been tested for cystic fibrosis, but added, “It would appear that testing done by Rocky Mountain was faulty.” “Someday I have to explain to Jaxon that the pain and difficulties that he endures every day are unnecessary and should have been prevented,” Sharine Kretchmar said. “It is a helpless feeling to know that I can’t take away my child’s pain.”

Age, sex, location...sperm count? Free sperm donors online

Trent Arsenault’s website could easily be mistaken for an online dating profile. There, the 36-year-old Silicon Valley high-tech worker describes his appearance (blond hair, brown eyes), personality (“happy, easy going”) and hobbies (“hiking, bird watching, habitat conservation”). But interspersed among action shots of Arsenault biking in China and scuba diving in Hawaii are snapshots of his sexual health records, genetic testing results and the 15 children he’s fathered since hanging up a shingle in 2006 as a “free sperm donor” www.trentdonor.org. He’s part of a burgeoning online network of willing donors and would-be mothers who are bypassing the anonymity and expense of licensed sperm banks in favour of a more do-it-yourself approach to assisted conception, much to the ire of semen regulators who have decried the practice as a threat to public health. Arsenault has been locked in a regulatory battle with the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) since 2010, when the regulator ordered him to stop making private donations unless he could meet the stringent requirements it has set out for sperm banks. “On that logic, every man in America could be a risk to their partner,” Arsenault contends. Indeed, he claims to pose a reduced risk in comparison with men who beget children the old-fashioned way because he’s celibate, provides documentation of regular screening for sexually transmitted infections and donates via a sterile cup and syringe. Now, Canadian proponents of free sperm donation fear the case will set a precedent for similar crackdowns by Health Canada, which has already issued two alerts about the “serious potential health risks” of the practice. “I’m absolutely concerned,” says Sam [who requested her last name be withheld], a Toronto, Ontario–based mother who is attempting to conceive a second child using free donations from men she’s met online. She and her partner spent more than $10 000 conceiving their first child via a licensed sperm bank. “We go into it with our eyes wide open, know what our risks are and make the decision based on the information we’re provided and what our guts tell us. Ultimately, it’s no worse than going to a bar and picking someone up.” But it’s the fact that private donors and recipients are not having sex that’s exposing them to scrutiny from regulators in Canada, the United Kingdom and the US. Semen is regulated as a drug in Canada, unless it’s donated to a spouse or sexual partner, according to Leslie Meerburg, a media relations officer for Health Canada. As a drug, it must pass through a battery of checks under the Food and Drugs Act and “Processing and Distribution of Semen for Assisted Conception Regulations,” including a six-month quarantine period during which the sperm is frozen. This effectively makes it impossible for individuals to donate fresh sperm privately without having sex or breaking the law, says Emily Larose, a Toronto, Ontario–based lawyer who specializes in dealing with health regulations. Private donors who opt to do the latter could face compliance and enforcement actions, including prosecution, although “the extent to which Health Canada would take these enforcement measures is not certain,” Larose says. “I don’t know whether a friend helping out a friend would be a situation that would trigger this kind of scrutiny, [but] when people are doing it in a broader, more public sense [as they are online] they attract the regulator’s attention.” That’s been the case in both the UK and the US, where similar restrictions on semen donation and exemptions for donations from “intimate” partners apply and www. In recent years, the UK’s Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has given written notice to private sperm donation sites to warn that their unlicensed operation constitutes a criminal offence (www.hfea.gov.uk/1369.html). But Arsenault’s case appears to be the first in which a regulator has targeted an individual donor for enforcement. He had already sired 10 children via artificial insemination and made some 328 donations to 46 different recipients when FDA investigators searched his home in August 2010. Three months later, he received the order to “cease manufacturing” donations there unless he could “provide adequate protections against the risk of communicable disease transmission”. Advocates for free sperm donation argue it’s unfair to hold individuals to the same standards as sperm banks, particularly as many private donors disclose more information about their sexual health, genetics and fertility than most people require of their so-called intimate partners. Adam [who requested his last name be withheld], a Saskatoon, Saskatchewan-based student, writes in an email that he’s taken greater precautions in preparing to become a private donor than even most recipients require. In addition to screening for sexually transmitted infections, he has undergone genetic testing, conferred with a lawyer about his responsibilities to recipients and any resulting children, and sought to determine whether there is a maximum number of children a donor may have per population. And like Arsenault, Adam abstains from sex. Although Adam acknowledges that not all donors go to such lengths — either because of ignorance or “darker motives” — he accuses government of overreaching its authority by extending their hand into the bedrooms of private citizens. “There needs to be protection in place [for] both the parties. Having said that, ... this comes down to the old argument of the government trying to restrict what consenting adults want to do.” Others contend the regulations force women to choose between the financial consequences of using a sperm bank and the physical and emotional risks of having sex with a stranger. “That’s a crappy choice, and guess what? That person still wants to have a baby and they’re going to find a way,” says Beth Gardner, founder of the US-based Known Donor Registry, a site that currently connects some 5750 people interested in private donation, including Canadians. “It’s not the realm of government to decide who I’m allowed to have a baby with and how I’m going to make that happen. That’s my business.” Current restrictions only serve to force such transactions underground, putting desperate women at a greater risk of being coerced into sex or obtaining sperm from unscrupulous donors who have foregone screening, Gardner adds. A “much more appropriate” alternative to imposing one-size-fits-all regulations on sperm banks and individual donors alike would be to create a distinct set of guidelines on how to engage in private donation as safely as possible, she argues. That could be as simple as recognizing private donor–recipient relationships as “intimate” and therefore exempt from the regulations governing sperm donations, or the development of some form of universal checklist or consent form that sets out each party’s risks and responsibilities. Erika Tranfield, director and cofounder of the UK-based private donation site Pride Angel, concurs. A less restrictive approach would also enable women and donors to work more closely with health professionals to carry out private donations, ensuring an additional layer of accountability while retaining the ability to “create their own rules,” she says. Many women are attracted to private donation because it allows them to meet potential sperm donors in person, and screen for personality and other characteristics that are difficult to judge from sperm bank profiles, Tranfield says. The parties can also customize the level of contact they propose to maintain after a child is conceived, she adds. “It eliminates the longing to meet the donor when they’re older and the child is obviously able to say ‘I have a dad,’ making them no different from the kids at school.” Arsenault has kept in touch with several of the families which were recipients of his sperm and those relationships are the basis on which he’s appealing the FDA kibosh on his activities as donor. “The recipients and I agree we’re intimate partners,” Arsenault says, adding that the FDA doesn’t have a right to define what constitutes sexual intimacy for individuals. The FDA hasn’t yet indicated whether it will grant a hearing on his appeal but in the mean time, Arsenault says he’ll continue donating. The FDA did not respond to requests for an interview. Article: 17th April 2012 www.cmaj.ca

Sperm donation online: Websites a better alternative to unknown donors?

Recent articles in the news have highlighted the downsides of using unregulated sperm donor websites, portraying them as placing vulnerable women at risk. Is this really the case or is sperm donation online providing a much needed service, which is not being met by fertility clinics alone? Often highlighted are the occasions when male donors try to abuse the system by requesting payments or offering natural insemination (in other words sex) as the best method of conception.
Unfortunately some online forums seem to be dominated by donors chatting to each other and boasting about the number of children they have conceived. There is certainly a downside, which individuals must be aware of when trying to find a known donor. Finding a known donor or co-parent can be like trying to meet a lifelong partner - unfortunately along the journey you may have to encounter men or women which are not likeminded and who you do not connect with, before eventually finding the right one.

This said, despite the media's negative tilt, the option of using a known donor has many upsides, which is why it is becoming such a popular option for many single, gay or infertile couples. So what are the advantages? The obvious one may be cost, with IVF funding being cut by so many regions throughout the UK, many single people or couples may simply not be able to afford fertility treatment through a clinic. However after speaking with Erika the co-founder of Pride Angel, a leading parenting connection website, she believes that this is not the main reason people go down the online sperm donor route.

Erika says ‘Many women choose a connection service, because they want more information about the donor than they receive at a clinic’, ‘They want to understand their personality and mannerisms, after all the donor is going to make up 50% of the child’s genes’. ‘Many single women and lesbian couples, also wish for their child to know of their donor, they want to maintain contact, be it occasional or on a regular basis’ ‘The important factor is educating people about any potential risks and providing the necessary support and guidance regarding health risks and legal rights’.

An article in the Telegraph today wrote‘These unregulated sites are so popular that the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) last week announced plans to increase payments made to sperm and egg donors in the hope that this will increase the number of regulated donations’ Connection websites are not obliged to be regulated in any way, unless they are involving themselves in the procurement of gametes. Websites which act purely as connection services put the responsibility, rightly so, on the users to make their own informed decision regarding whether they choose to take their donor to a clinic for treatment or undertake artificial insemination following suitable health screening checks by their GP.

There are dozens of websites providing a donor connection service, however many of these websites do not monitor their donors or control the numbers of connections between donors and recipients. This is why when choosing a website it is important to use one who is being responsible. Speaking with Erika from Pride Angel, she said ‘We are one of the only connection services worldwide who constantly monitor profiles and we suspend any users who are not meeting our criteria’. ‘No mention of natural insemination, payments, shipping of sperm or anonymous donation is allowed. Any users which break this ‘code of conduct’ are suspended.’ ‘Pride Angel also uses a limited message credit system which means, that not only can donors only contact a limited number of recipients, but is also means that donors are more likely to be genuine’.

There have also been many stories in the news recently from donor-conceived children, about their search to find their origins. For some it may be a happy ending, but for many more it is not. With the change in the anonymity law in 2005, we will not be able to see the effects of children wishing to meet their donors, conceived through fertility clinics until 2023. What will be the effect of these reunions? Will there be the issue of rejection by donors or even the devastating possibility of genetic attraction, which has already been estimated to occur in 50% of cases between adopted children and their biological parents or siblings? Genetic attraction tends to only occur when there has not been any previous contact throughout a child’s upbringing with their donor or sibling and does not occur between known donors and their biological children.

Many women are also now considering finding their own egg donor through a donor website, especially when there are such long waiting times for egg donors within the UK, Some recipients wish to meet the donor to find out more about them, and likewise egg donors feel happier donating to a women or couple who they believe will provide a happy environment for their donor offspring. Speaking with one egg donor, they said ‘I was able to select the family to who my eggs were donated to, we had several meetings and together we decided that they would like to tell their child from a young age. I agreed that they are welcome to come round anytime. Their child is now 5 and I have met him 6 times in total. Although genetically he is my child I will never be his mother nor would I ever want that position, I simply helped a wonderful couple become a family.’

A donor conceived child said ‘I know where my genetic mother is and can visit her if I would like to, but my real mother is the mum that brought me up'. Another donor-conceived child said ‘I know who my dad is, even if I only see him occasionally, that means I am no different to any of my friends at school'.

‘Pride Angel receives numerous thank you messages from recipients who have eventually found the right donor and from men who have been able to become parents themselves through co-parenting arrangements’

Surely a solution is for women to be able to use known donors, even if they are found through website connection services, so they can pass on more information to their children about their origins. After all, it is the children’s welfare which is of paramount importance.

Article: 25th October 2011 www.prideangel.com