Men and women who donated their sperm or egg cells anonymously should consider revealing their identity to their biological children, a study into the ethics of donor conception has recommended.
Tag: donor
Turkish Uterus Transplant Patient is Pregnant
The first woman to have a successful uterus transplant from a cadaveric donor is pregnant, a hospital in southern Turkey said.
Sperm Donor Sparks Ethical Debate
A Danish sperm donor may have unknowingly passed on a cancer-causing illness to 50 percent of the children created using his sperm.
Ottawa fertility doctor accused of inseminating women with wrong sperm
An Ottawa fertility doctor faces a disciplinary hearing Thursday over allegations he artificially inseminated three women with the wrong sperm.
Dr. Bernard Norman Barwin, a celebrated gynecologist, could lose his licence if the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario discipline panel finds he committed misconduct.
He agreed last year to stop the practice of insemination after the college filed its notice of hearing.
The medical college alleges that three of Dr. Barwin’s patients discovered their children aren’t biologically related to their husband or, in one case, the patient’s chosen donor.
Two women with the same allegations sued Dr. Barwin a few years ago. The lawsuits were resolved last year, but neither the women’s lawyer nor Dr. Barwin’s lawyer could discuss the terms. Read full article.
Kan. case reveals risks with assisted reproduction
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The case of a Kansas sperm donor being sued by the state for child support underscores a confusing patchwork of aging laws that govern assisted reproduction in the United States and often lead to litigation and frustration among would-be parents.
Complex questions about parental responsibility resurfaced late last year, as Kansas officials went after a Topeka man who answered a Craigslist ad from a lesbian couple seeking a sperm donor. Because no doctor was involved in the artificial insemination, the state sought to hold William Marotta financially responsible for the child when the women split up and one of them sought public assistance. A hearing is set for April.
Many states haven’t updated their laws to address the evolution of family structures — such as same-sex families, single women conceiving with donated sperm or artificial inseminations performed without a doctor’s involvement. At-home insemination kits are inexpensive, and obtaining sperm from a friend, or even a donor met over the Internet, allows women to avoid medical costs that generally aren’t covered by insurance. Read full article.
Kansas Sperm Donor Trapped by DYI Insemination Loophole
The lawsuit by the state of Kansas against hapless sperm donor William Marotta of Topeka continues to make headlines. In case you unplugged during the holidays, here’s the back story: In 2009 Mr. Marotta responded to a Craig’s List …
Flying Solo: More Women Abandon Search for Prince Charming and Opt to Have IVF Baby
SINGLE women in their late 30s are increasingly giving up waiting for ”Mr Right” and turning instead to IVF or assisted reproductive technology (ART) to fulfil their dream of having a baby.
IVF clinics in Sydney and Melbourne report the number of women using donor sperm to conceive a child has jumped 10 per cent over the past three years. An IVF Australia fertility specialist, Michael Chapman, said that, while lesbian couples accounted for some of the increase, the real growth was occurring with older, single heterosexual women.
”We’re seeing more and more of these ladies. Women who can’t find Mr Right but still want a child realise this is an option,” Professor Chapman said. ”It’s become almost normal to be a single mum. So when these women get to 38, 39, they go to donor sperm and do assisted reproduction.”
Categorised by the IVF industry as ”socially infertile”, these women rely on their mother, sister or a friend to support them through the IVF process in the absence of a partner. Read full article.
Go Get Some Sun: Live Birth Rates Are Higher for Donor Egg ART in Sunnier Climates
At the 68th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, a bicoastal research team will report evidence that sunlight exposure may have an effect on the success of ART cycles using donor eggs.
Donor Siblings, and a New Kind of Family
As we swelter toward July 4th and traditional family gatherings, I find myself contemplating the meaning of the very new, and very non-traditional, type of extended family that has dropped into my life.
Last month I posted eight words to the Donor Sibling Registry, a Web site that helps form connections among the children conceived by sperm, egg or embryo donations. Girl born October 2008. Boy born May 2010. I was required to enter one other key piece of information: the name of the sperm bank and ID number of the donor that we used to conceive our children. The match popped up instantly from my simple query, like a book in an online library catalog.
Two messages awaited me when I logged onto the Web site the following morning. Janedog in Canada has one child and wants to make a connection. Tripk6 has two children. They live on the West Coast. The three children are all born from the same donor that we used. “Doesn’t he make beautiful babies?” asked Tripk6 rhetorically.
Conservatives Line Up Against Sperm Donors, But Lack the Power to Ban Them
WASHINGTON — A new documentary exploring the ethical implications of sperm donation is creating a buzz among religious audiences.
“Anonymous Father’s Day” delves into bioethics from the perspective of donor-conceived children who grow up not knowing their biological fathers. The film gives fodder to opponents of assisted reproductive technology, who argue the fertility “industry” has led to psychologically scarred children and the “commodification” of human life.
ART’s ethical implications are not solely a religious issue, and “Anonymous Father’s Day” makes no explicit religious claims. But its promotion of heterosexual marriage attracts religious audiences, who oppose the reproductive alternatives ART facilitates.
Jennifer Lahl, the writer, director and producer behind the film, recently held back-to-back screenings in Washington, D.C., at the conservative Christian-focused Family Research Council and the Catholic Information Center. Lahl plans future showings at Christian institutions.
This is the second film on gamete donation by Lahl, founder and president of The Center for Bioethics and Culture, a California-based nonprofit that studies beginning and end-of-life issues.