[Lifestyle] Looking for a sperm donor online? 4 things to think about first

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People looking for a sperm donor can go to a fertility clinic, ask a friend to donate or look for a donor online, including on an app or via social media. Women in same-sex relationships, single women and others are choosing the online option for a number of reasons. But this brings with it various challenges and risks. Here’s what to know first. It’s a po[CENSORED]r choice Up to 4,000 children are estimated to have been born over the past ten years via one Australian sperm donation website alone. In just 2022, sperm sourced via one private Facebook group reportedly resulted in 692 births. Some donors and recipients choose to use online platforms because they want to form connections and friendships with the other party early on. In some cases, donors choose to remain in the lives of the recipient and any child born from their donation.But some sperm donors go online to remain anonymous, an option not usually possible when donating through a fertility clinic. Some people might use online sperm donation because the cost of accessing donor sperm at fertility clinics is too high in Australia. Some clinics charge a sperm donation management fee of about AUD 2,000. This allows people to access information about the donors they can choose from. Then there is the cost of insemination and of the sperm itself, which is about USD 2,500 out-of-pocket per cycle. Online sperm donation in Australia tends to be altruistic and does not cost anything. People in rural or regional areas may live far from fertility clinics, making access challenging. Then there’s often a shortage of donor sperm at clinics. In particular, there’s a lack of ethnic and cultural diversity in donors. Whatever the reason for seeking sperm online, here are some issues to consider first. 1. Medical unknowns Sperm donors at fertility clinics undergo medical, physical and psychological screening to reduce the risk of transmitting disease to a child. However, online sperm donors may provide people with unscreened sperm that might be carrying sexually transmitted infections or inheritable genetic conditions. This puts the recipient and the potential child at risk because of the lack of medical information about the donor. 2. Psychological, personal, social risks People might be placed at risk when they agree to meet a potential online sperm donor in person. There have been reported cases where potential donors have pressured people into natural insemination (sexual intercourse) once they meet. This is despite donors initially agreeing to provide sperm for home insemination (using a syringe to inject the donor sperm into the vagina). These safety and exploitation concerns are especially pertinent in cases of same-sex female couples and people who are same-sex attracted who might feel coerced or compelled to have sexual intercourse with a man to try to conceive a child.

https://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/health/looking-for-a-sperm-donor-online-4-things-to-think-about-first-9831514/