The following recent article by the Daily Mail highlights the risks both physically and emotionally of sleeping with a sperm donor met online. As a single woman any donor would be classed as the child’s legal father and could be held financially responsible. For this reason many donors may try to conceal their true identity, which adds a greater risk for the recipient, of not having adequate identification for CRB checks and health screening tests. Not to mention the importance of any child not being able to trace their biological routes when they are older.
Erika from Pride Angel states ‘ There are many advantages for personally meeting a sperm donor and having them involved in their child’s life’ ‘Making sure that both parties have the same views regarding their parenting and level of involvement is imperative to any successful arrangement’
‘It is also important to consider the risks, getting legal advice and full health screening tests before attempting to conceive’ ‘Using a regulated clinic is the only real way of being certain about any health risks and gaining fertility treatment through a clinic also clarifies the legal position for both the donor and the recipient’ .
For these reasons Pride Angel unlike many other websites, has strict terms and conditions regarding donors not donating by natural insemination, no payments being offered and anonymous donation is strongly discouraged. Profiles are monitored constantly and users are able to ‘Report’ any concerns they have regarding other members.
Article: Frances Benning, 29 has chosen to conceive with a sperm donor. She has scheduled the event meticulously; planned every detail with military precision — for her sole purpose is to become pregnant. But the man she has chosen to be the father of her baby is neither her husband, nor her partner nor, even, a long-term friend. In fact, he is Toby, a sperm donor she met for the first time just a few hours ago.
Toby, 30, who is affluent and handsome with a glamorous job in the film industry, and Frances — attractive, articulate and privately-educated — were introduced via a website that matches potential sperm donors with would-be mothers. After she singled him out as a prospective father, they corresponded before arranging to meet.
No money would change hands but, at the end of their brief encounter, Frances fervently hoped, Toby would have bestowed on her the priceless gift of life.
After that, she planned to embark on life as a single mum. She figured she could manage perfectly alone: she is resourceful, financially secure and owns her own house outright. But as is often the case with even the best-laid schemes, Frances’ went awry. For a start, she failed to factor emotions into her plan, and had not reckoned on the impact of seeing the father of her future child face-to-face.
‘When I first met Toby I thought, “Wow!”,’ she recalls. ‘He is 6ft 5in, dark-haired and blue-eyed with lovely broad muscular shoulders. He looked even better than he did in his photos. Under different circumstances Frances, a legal secretary, and Toby, whose job as a researcher takes him round the world, could have been made for each other.
To read more go to http://bit.ly/fGXZOg
Showing posts with label co-parent websites. Show all posts
Showing posts with label co-parent websites. Show all posts
Saturday, 19 February 2011
Sunday, 17 October 2010
Sperm donor and co-parent website: How does Pride Angel work?
You are one step closer to starting your family or helping others achieve their dream. Find out more about how Pride Angel works, whether you are a wishing to become a sperm donor, egg donor, co-parent, or recipient looking for a donor.
Getting information
Donors
Choosing to donate sperm or eggs is a wonderful gift, giving others the opportunity of becoming parents. It can be a big decision to become a donor, whether or not you wish to be involved in the upbringing of the child, it is worth considering what level of contact you wish to maintain. Getting plenty of information regarding your legal rights and what health screening is required is really important.
Recipients
Are you looking for a sperm donor to complete your family? It is a big decision and you will want to choose the right person, as ultimately they will be giving 50% of your future child’s genes. It is also really important to find a like minded person, especially when there is an intention that the donor will play a part in the child’s life, such as an ‘uncle type figure’. Even if your intention is for your child to have no contact with the donor, children need to have the ability to trace their identity as they become adults. Therefore keeping a record of the donor’s identification is important to enable them to trace at age 18 years if they wish to. Receiving treatment through a fertility clinic will ensure that these details are kept on file. If you are a lesbian couple, it is worth considering whether you will be entering into a civil partnership before starting fertility treatment or home insemination. If you are civil partners at the time you conceive, the non-birth mother is your child's legal parent if you conceive artificially (which covers IUI or IVF at a licensed clinic, and artificial insemination at home) If you are a single woman and you conceive outside a fertility clinic (home insemination) your donor would be treated as the child’s legal parent in the eyes of the law.
Co-parents
Choosing to co-parent as a single person or couple is a real commitment, but an arrangement which works, can be really beneficial to a child, gaining input from both biological parents and the extra support from extended family members. As a co-parent you would be sharing parental responsibility and also any financial responsibility too. Members wishing to co-parent are advised to take their time choosing the right kind of person who has similar parenting styles and values to you. Getting to know your co-parent over a period of a year can enables a greater understanding of whether you would both be able to co-parent effectively.
Involving your partner
If you are looking for a sperm donor as part of a couple, such as a lesbian couple, or heterosexual couples, it is important to involve your partner as much as possible in the process. The partner who is not the birth mother can sometimes feel left out and may be concerned about whether they will bond with the child. It is important to keep communication open at all times and to both talk about ways in which you could make each other feel secure and happier in the decision to start a family together. Share your thoughts and feelings, maybe have counselling together before starting your journey to parenthood.
If you are a donor looking to donate or co-parent as part of a couple it is also necessary to consider the feeling of your partner and to be open and honest about your donations. Many children wish for the option of contacting their donor later in life, even if simply to see what their ‘biological father or mother’ is like. How you would feel and how your partner would feel, when a’ biological child’ makes contact in the future must be a serious consideration when choosing to donate.
Viewing profiles
Pride Angel allows you to search basic profiles of sperm donors, egg donors, co-parents and recipients without the need to register, searching by country and county. However to view another member’s full profile and any image/picture you are required to register with us. Becoming a member also allows you to do ‘advanced searches’ allowing you to search specific criteria such as eye colour, hair colour and race, to name but a few.
To read more go to http://bit.ly/9mvqof
Getting information
Donors
Choosing to donate sperm or eggs is a wonderful gift, giving others the opportunity of becoming parents. It can be a big decision to become a donor, whether or not you wish to be involved in the upbringing of the child, it is worth considering what level of contact you wish to maintain. Getting plenty of information regarding your legal rights and what health screening is required is really important.
Recipients
Are you looking for a sperm donor to complete your family? It is a big decision and you will want to choose the right person, as ultimately they will be giving 50% of your future child’s genes. It is also really important to find a like minded person, especially when there is an intention that the donor will play a part in the child’s life, such as an ‘uncle type figure’. Even if your intention is for your child to have no contact with the donor, children need to have the ability to trace their identity as they become adults. Therefore keeping a record of the donor’s identification is important to enable them to trace at age 18 years if they wish to. Receiving treatment through a fertility clinic will ensure that these details are kept on file. If you are a lesbian couple, it is worth considering whether you will be entering into a civil partnership before starting fertility treatment or home insemination. If you are civil partners at the time you conceive, the non-birth mother is your child's legal parent if you conceive artificially (which covers IUI or IVF at a licensed clinic, and artificial insemination at home) If you are a single woman and you conceive outside a fertility clinic (home insemination) your donor would be treated as the child’s legal parent in the eyes of the law.
Co-parents
Choosing to co-parent as a single person or couple is a real commitment, but an arrangement which works, can be really beneficial to a child, gaining input from both biological parents and the extra support from extended family members. As a co-parent you would be sharing parental responsibility and also any financial responsibility too. Members wishing to co-parent are advised to take their time choosing the right kind of person who has similar parenting styles and values to you. Getting to know your co-parent over a period of a year can enables a greater understanding of whether you would both be able to co-parent effectively.
Involving your partner
If you are looking for a sperm donor as part of a couple, such as a lesbian couple, or heterosexual couples, it is important to involve your partner as much as possible in the process. The partner who is not the birth mother can sometimes feel left out and may be concerned about whether they will bond with the child. It is important to keep communication open at all times and to both talk about ways in which you could make each other feel secure and happier in the decision to start a family together. Share your thoughts and feelings, maybe have counselling together before starting your journey to parenthood.
If you are a donor looking to donate or co-parent as part of a couple it is also necessary to consider the feeling of your partner and to be open and honest about your donations. Many children wish for the option of contacting their donor later in life, even if simply to see what their ‘biological father or mother’ is like. How you would feel and how your partner would feel, when a’ biological child’ makes contact in the future must be a serious consideration when choosing to donate.
Viewing profiles
Pride Angel allows you to search basic profiles of sperm donors, egg donors, co-parents and recipients without the need to register, searching by country and county. However to view another member’s full profile and any image/picture you are required to register with us. Becoming a member also allows you to do ‘advanced searches’ allowing you to search specific criteria such as eye colour, hair colour and race, to name but a few.
To read more go to http://bit.ly/9mvqof
Thursday, 30 September 2010
Sperm donor websites: a personal fertility choice?
Sperm donor websites are increasing in popularity with many people searching for a sperm donor or co-parent online. Are they a health risk or a personal choice which could benefit the future of any future children?
There has been a lot of bad press recently in light of the two businessmen Nigel Woodforth and Ricky Gage, charged for not having a licence to procure gametes. The pair acted as ‘sperm brokers’ aiding in the transport and testing of sperm. They enabled anonymous donation and put women’s health at risk by organising health screening. This has brought to the attention the increased popularity of sperm donor websites which effectively connect donors and recipients looking for sperm.
Sperm donor or co-parenting websites are not required by law to be regulated, as long as they are simply bringing people together, not acting as intermediaries in the way that the two recently convicted were doing. When a site is purely a connection service a women is able to make her own choice about whether she wishes to protect her heath and legal rights by taking the donor to a regulated fertility clinic, or whether she feels that there is a level of trust sufficient for them to obtain the necessary health screening tests themselves, through a clinic, GP or GUM service. After which recipients may decide to choose home insemination as a method of conception. This later option is more applicable to co-parenting situations whereby the donor and recipient have got to know each other over a period of time and there are legal co-parenting agreements in place before proceeding.
Women wish to have choices about how they will conceive and should they not have the freedom to make those choices without regulatory constraints. The emphasis should therefore not be about removing such choices, but instead about educating individuals so that they are fully informed about any risks they are taking, enabling them to make better informed decisions, which are right for their personal circumstances and their potential child.
There has been a social and cultural shift in recent times, towards women wishing to meet a known donor. Some may say this is because of high fertility costs, or maybe the ‘shortage of donors’ or could it be that women are actually thinking of their children’s future and that they would far rather personally meet a like minded individual, who is happy to stay in touch as an ‘uncle type’ figure, rather than for their child to always long to meet an unknown donor as they grow up. There has been much research and evidence which has shown that children who know the identity of their donor and know the truth about their conception from an early age are more secure with their identity as they become adults.
The change to the anonymity law, is a good thing for donor conceived children allowing them to trace the identity of their donor at age 18, however we are still to really discover the effect this will have on the thousands of children who may be wanting to meet their biological father in the future. They may find that the donor is simply not interested in being contacted. There is also the worry that the donor may not be the kind of person the mother would wish for their child to meet, after all, she may have only received basic details such as height and eye colour, by which to choose her donor originally. There is also the real concern of genetic attraction which especially affects parents and children who have never met before adulthood. The effect of this could be potentially catastrophic.
When these effects do come to the forefront in the year 2023, 18 years after the new law was introduced in 2005, will it be decided that children where better off not really getting this information? Would it not therefore be far better for donor conceived children to have known of their donor from the beginning?
So what is the answer, surely to give people the option of finding a known donor or co-parent and for the authorities to work together with sperm donor websites to ensure that enough information is available to their users regarding health screening and the legal implications allowing the ability for them to source accessible and affordable fertility treatment?
A spokesman for the HFEA has pointed out that it is the health risks of not using a fertility clinic which concerns them most. Therefore they are advising people to only use sperm donor websites which direct their users to a licensed clinic, ensuring that complete health screening is completed and that a record of the donor’s name is kept on file.
Pride Angel the leading worldwide connection site primarily aimed at the gay and lesbian community is the only website dedicated to providing quality information regarding health screening and fertility law. Erika co-founder of Pride Angel stated ’all our profiles are continually screening to ensure users are not offering ‘natural insemination’ or requesting an ‘anonymous’ donor. Nor is payment for donations allowed to be offered or requested.’ ‘We also offer email support for users requiring help and further information.’ ‘Users should never consider using a donor who offers natural insemination, even if they offer artificial insemination as well. The health risks of such ‘promiscuous’ donors is too great’.
‘We have had so many people thank us for the service we provide, without which co-parenting arrangements would not happen and many lesbian couples and gay men would not have the chance to experience the joys of parenthood.’ says Erika
For more information regarding finding a co-parent, health screening and fertility law visit www.prideangel.com
To read more go to http://bit.ly/9aF997
There has been a lot of bad press recently in light of the two businessmen Nigel Woodforth and Ricky Gage, charged for not having a licence to procure gametes. The pair acted as ‘sperm brokers’ aiding in the transport and testing of sperm. They enabled anonymous donation and put women’s health at risk by organising health screening. This has brought to the attention the increased popularity of sperm donor websites which effectively connect donors and recipients looking for sperm.
Sperm donor or co-parenting websites are not required by law to be regulated, as long as they are simply bringing people together, not acting as intermediaries in the way that the two recently convicted were doing. When a site is purely a connection service a women is able to make her own choice about whether she wishes to protect her heath and legal rights by taking the donor to a regulated fertility clinic, or whether she feels that there is a level of trust sufficient for them to obtain the necessary health screening tests themselves, through a clinic, GP or GUM service. After which recipients may decide to choose home insemination as a method of conception. This later option is more applicable to co-parenting situations whereby the donor and recipient have got to know each other over a period of time and there are legal co-parenting agreements in place before proceeding.
Women wish to have choices about how they will conceive and should they not have the freedom to make those choices without regulatory constraints. The emphasis should therefore not be about removing such choices, but instead about educating individuals so that they are fully informed about any risks they are taking, enabling them to make better informed decisions, which are right for their personal circumstances and their potential child.
There has been a social and cultural shift in recent times, towards women wishing to meet a known donor. Some may say this is because of high fertility costs, or maybe the ‘shortage of donors’ or could it be that women are actually thinking of their children’s future and that they would far rather personally meet a like minded individual, who is happy to stay in touch as an ‘uncle type’ figure, rather than for their child to always long to meet an unknown donor as they grow up. There has been much research and evidence which has shown that children who know the identity of their donor and know the truth about their conception from an early age are more secure with their identity as they become adults.
The change to the anonymity law, is a good thing for donor conceived children allowing them to trace the identity of their donor at age 18, however we are still to really discover the effect this will have on the thousands of children who may be wanting to meet their biological father in the future. They may find that the donor is simply not interested in being contacted. There is also the worry that the donor may not be the kind of person the mother would wish for their child to meet, after all, she may have only received basic details such as height and eye colour, by which to choose her donor originally. There is also the real concern of genetic attraction which especially affects parents and children who have never met before adulthood. The effect of this could be potentially catastrophic.
When these effects do come to the forefront in the year 2023, 18 years after the new law was introduced in 2005, will it be decided that children where better off not really getting this information? Would it not therefore be far better for donor conceived children to have known of their donor from the beginning?
So what is the answer, surely to give people the option of finding a known donor or co-parent and for the authorities to work together with sperm donor websites to ensure that enough information is available to their users regarding health screening and the legal implications allowing the ability for them to source accessible and affordable fertility treatment?
A spokesman for the HFEA has pointed out that it is the health risks of not using a fertility clinic which concerns them most. Therefore they are advising people to only use sperm donor websites which direct their users to a licensed clinic, ensuring that complete health screening is completed and that a record of the donor’s name is kept on file.
Pride Angel the leading worldwide connection site primarily aimed at the gay and lesbian community is the only website dedicated to providing quality information regarding health screening and fertility law. Erika co-founder of Pride Angel stated ’all our profiles are continually screening to ensure users are not offering ‘natural insemination’ or requesting an ‘anonymous’ donor. Nor is payment for donations allowed to be offered or requested.’ ‘We also offer email support for users requiring help and further information.’ ‘Users should never consider using a donor who offers natural insemination, even if they offer artificial insemination as well. The health risks of such ‘promiscuous’ donors is too great’.
‘We have had so many people thank us for the service we provide, without which co-parenting arrangements would not happen and many lesbian couples and gay men would not have the chance to experience the joys of parenthood.’ says Erika
For more information regarding finding a co-parent, health screening and fertility law visit www.prideangel.com
To read more go to http://bit.ly/9aF997
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