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Sperm donation is the practice by which a man donates his semen to be used specifically to produce a baby. A man who donates sperm, a sperm donor, may do so at a clinic known as a sperm bank. Donors may be either anonymous or non-anonymous, though laws may require donors one or the other, or restrict the number of children each donor may father. Although many donors choose to remain anonymous, new technologies such as the internet and DNA technology has opened up new avenues for those wishing to know more about the biological father, children or half-siblings.

Contents 1 Types of donors 1.1 Anonymous or non-anonymous 1.1.1 Anonymous 1.1.2 Non-anonymous 1.2 Private donors 2 Limitation 2.1 Australia 2.2 Belgium 2.3 Denmark 2.4 New Zealand 2.5 Spain 2.6 Sweden 2.7 UK 2.8 USA 3 Donor tracking 3.1 Tracking by registries 3.1.1 Australia 3.1.2 New Zealand 3.1.3 Sweden 3.1.4 UK 3.1.5 US 3.2 Tracking by DNA-databases 4 See also 5 References 6 External links 6.1 General sites 6.2 Contact registries (find offspring, siblings, and donor) 6.3 Sperm bank directories 6.4 Private donor listings/groups

Most sperm donors are anonymous, i.e. the clinic will never give contact information of the receiving woman/couple and the woman/couple will not be told the identity of the donor. However some information about the donor may be released to the woman/couple. A limited donor information at most includes height, weight, eye, skin and hair colour. In Sweden, this is all information a receiver gets. In the US, on the other hand, additional information may be given, such as a comprehensive biography and sound/video samples.

The law usually protects sperm donors from being responsible for children produced from their donations, and the law also usually provides that sperm donors have no rights over the children which they produce.

Several countries, e.g. Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Britain, Switzerland, Australia^[1] and New Zealand only allow non-anonymous sperm donation. The child may, when grown up (15-18 years old), get contact information from the sperm bank about his/her biological father. In Denmark, a sperm donor may choose to be either anonymous or non-anonymous.

Still, the initial information the receiving woman/couple gets is the same.

Besides the men who donate to a sperm bank there are also less institutional donations, for example, a would be mother may approach a friend, or may obtain a "private" donor by advertising. A number of web sites seek to link such donors and donees, while advertisements in same sex publications are not uncommon. Although artificial insemination is usually used, frozen sperm need not be. Most such donors meet the donees and are therefore usually known to the recipient. Private donations are usually free - avoiding the significant costs of a more medicalised insemination - and theoretically, where fresh rather than frozen semen is used the chances of pregnancy may be higher. Against this are the usually higher risks of disease transmission and the risk of a legal dispute regarding access or maintenance. The laws of some nations (e.g. New Zealand), allow for recognition of written agreements between donors and donees in a similar way to institutional donations.

Where a sperm donor donates sperm through a sperm bank, he has to undergo a number of medical and other checks to ensure that his sperm are fertile and motile, that his sperm will withstand the freezing and thawing process necessary to store and quarantine the sperm, and that he is healthy and will not pass on any diseases through the use of his sperm. The cost to the sperm bank for such tests is not inconsiderable.

This normally means that clinics may use the same donor to produce a number of pregnancies in a number of different women. The number of pregnancies permitted varies according to law and practice.

Sperm banks frequently publish their 'pregnancy rates' which are success rates according to the number of pregnancies achieved as a percentage of the total number of treatments provided. These rates vary from clinic to clinic, according to the method of insemination used and of the ages of the recipients. Sperm from a sperm donor may be used until the maximum permitted number of pregnancies has been achieved.

In Victoria, there is a limit of 10 families per donor.^[2] In Western Australia, the Human Reproductive Technology Act 1991 (HRT Act) limits the number of families for each donor to 5.^[3]

The medical practioner preforming the procedure will set his or her own limit on the number of pregnancies from each donor which will depend upon the size of the community where the recipient is resident. This also applies to foreign women who are treated in Belgium.

In Denmark, one donor may give rise to 25 children. ^[4]

However, Denmark also exports semen to other countries, and for the donors participating in that way there is practically no limit^[4]. Since the limits for each country that is receiving the samples are followed, the risk of consanguity is reduced.

In New Zealand, a voluntary policy law by fertility clinics limit one donor to "fathering" a maximum of 10 children to 4 families.

The medical practioner performing the treatment will set his or her own limit of live births from one donor according to the size of the community where the donee is resident. This also applies when foreign women are treated in Spain.

In Sweden, a donor may give a child to a maximum of 6 couples. However, each pair may have a sibling in addition. Thus, the limit is 12 children per donor. ^{[5] [6]} Nevertheless, the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare (Socialstyrelsen) recommends a maximum of 6 children per donor^[7].

The HFEA sets a limit of 10 families within the UK which can be created using the gametes of one donor.^[8] However, there is no limit to the number of children which may be born to each such family from the same donor. A donor may set a lower limit and may impose conditions on the use of his sperm. In addition, there is no prohibition on the export of sperm from the UK provided that the number of families created in the UK does not exceed ten at the time of the export. This means that in practice some donors may produce substantial numbers of children, particulalry where sperm samples are exported within the European Union to countries such as Belgium or Spain. Special permision is required from the HFEA for the export of embryos.

In the USA, the ASRM limits a donor to 25 live births per population area of 850,000.^[9] There is no central tracking, and it has been estimated, that only about 40% of births are reported. It is likely that some donors have over one hundred genetic children.^[10] Some sperm banks impose lower limits, eg the Sperm Bank of California has a limit of ten families per donor ^[11], and the Rainbow Flag Sperm Bank has a limit of donor children by six different women.^[12]

Even when the donor had chosen to be anonymous, there are still opportunities to find the biological father for curious people conceived by donor sperm. Registries and DNA-databases are useful for this purpose.

The way to register sperm donors differs between countries. However, there is one international registry:the Donor Sibling Registry.

There is no national registry in Australia as health is handled by the individual states within Australia. However, some states have initiated donor registries. In the Australian state of Victoria, donors must register at a centralised register and agree to release identifying information to the donor child when they reach 18 years of age. Other states such as Western Australia have implemented a voluntary register which donors and recipients may register their details. This is not compulsory in any state other than Victoria.

In New Zealand the Human Assisted Reproductive Technology Act 2004 established the HART register which makes details of donors available to children and medical professionals.

As in Austria, donor registration is a task for each region, in Sweden: county. Thus, any official fertility clinic cannot know if a donor has donated in other places within the country as well.

However, there is interest in starting a national non-profit organization in order to avail donor siblings to find each other, since some find the international Donor Sibling Registry too expensive (at $40/per year membership to post or contact relatives.) The law ^[13], however, regulates this. For instance, personal data may mostly not be handed out unless there is consent from that person, and this might include donor codes, although only the clinic itself can link it directly with that donor. However, they may still indirectly link to the donor, and therefore, it is not certain that clinics are willing to deliver donor codes. Furthermore, even if the organization is availed the data, then, by the same law, such an organization has huge responsibilities. For instance:

• It has to make sure the data only is used for its purpose, i.e. link donor siblings to each other.
• The people turning to the organization too has to give data to the organization, and therefore have to be properly informed about how it is used. In addition, a written consent has to be retrieved from them.

In the United Kingdom, the HFEA has a central register of people of people conceived using gamete donation after 1st August 1991. People conceived using donations made after 1st April 2005 will have the right to know who their donor was when they turn 18.^[14] UK Donorlink is a voluntary register for people conceived before 1st August 1991 and for their donors.^[15]

There is a very successful international web-based registry called the Donor Sibling Registry which has helped to facilitate more than 4,000 matches between people who share genetic ties—donor offspring, half-siblings, and donors—through the unique donor identity numbers assigned by the sperm banks to the donors. Meetings between donors and their offspring and between half-siblings have in general been extremely successful and are becoming increasingly common occurrences.

However, even sperm donors who have not initiated contact through a registry are now increasingly being traced by their offspring. In the current era there can be no such thing as guaranteed anonymity. Through the advent of DNA testing and internet access to extensive databases of information, one sperm donor has recently been traced. In 2005 it was revealed (3-Nov-05 New Scientist Magazine) that an enterprising 15-year-old used information from a DNA test and the internet to identify and contact his genetic father, who was a sperm donor. This has brought into question the ability of sperm donors to stay anonymous.

• Sperm bank
• Egg donor
• Donor conceived people
• Posthumous sperm retrieval

1. ^ the Economist
2. ^ Monash IVF sperm donor info
3. ^ Western Australian Reproductive Technology Council
4. ^ ^{a b} Cryos (Danish)
5. ^ Sahlgrenska Hospital's sperm donor information (Swedish)
6. ^ Karolinska University Hospital
7. ^ SOSFS 2005:17, Ändring i föreskrifterna och allmänna råden (SOSFS 2002:13) om assisterad befruktning (Swedish)
8. ^ HFEA information for donors
9. ^ ASRM guidelines for gamete and embryon donation
10. ^ DSR_Discussion Yahoo group
11. ^ The Sperm Bank of California information on donor sperm
12. ^ Rainbow Flag Health Services
13. ^ Personal Data Act
14. ^ HFEA Register
15. ^ UK Donorlink

• Pacific Reproductive Services Sperm Bank and Fertility Center(Information on "willing to be known" donor process)
• Donor Conception Network (A non-profit organisation based in the United Kingdom which provides information & support to patients, parents & offspring)
• National Gamete Donation Trust (UK donor recruitment charity, advising donors and intending parents on donation issues)
• Donor Conception Support Group (A non-profit organization based in Australia which provides information & support to patients, parents & offspring)
• Infertility Network (A registered Canadian charity which provides information & support to patients, parents & offspring)
• Fertility Stories (Stories of couples using donor insemination and of children born as a result of donor insemination)
• Tangled Webs (An international action group challenging donor conception)
• Donor Sibling Registry (The only worldwide registry for donors, donor parents and donor offspring to connect and share vital information with each other. Current membership at 15,500 with more than 4000 people matched to each other))
• Donor Offspring Health A non-profit organization which provides a way for donors and donor conceived individuals to share pertinent health information. Anyone considering donor conception can also search the database to see if health issues have been reported for a potential donor.

• Donor Sibling Registry A non-profit organization serving more than 15,000, which assists individuals conceived as a result of sperm, egg or embryo donation to make mutually desired contact with others with whom they share genetic ties -- donors, offspring & half-siblings. More than 4000 people have connected on the DSR.
• UK Donorlink (UK Voluntary Information Exchange and Contact Register for donors and donor-conceived people)
• Australian Infertility Treatment Authority Registers (Registers relating to Donor Conception in Victoria, Australia)
• Donor Offspring Health A non-profit organization which provides a way for donors and donor conceived individuals to share pertinent health information. Anyone considering donor conception can also search the database to see if health issues have been reported for a potential donor.
• HART Register (New Zealand) (Human Assisted Reproductive Technology Register, New Zealand)

• SpermBanker.com (Searchable listing of U.S. sperm donors from all United States sperm banks)
• HFEA (the UK's regulatory body - lists all UK clinics offering sperm donation)

• The Australian Sperm Donor Registry (a registry for private donors)
• Pink Parents (a UK-based organisation for LGBT families, has a registry of private donors)
• Sperm Donors Worldwide (A registry of private donors worldwide)
• FreeSpermDonors (a Yahoo group for private donors)
• homoparentalite (a group for donors in France)