Sperm donor nightmare

I thought I would share this BBC article I saw today.  This, to me, is the worst nightmare of third party reproduction and what we need to be avoiding at all costs.  Any system which encourages people to take risks with unregulated and unrestricted “service”providers is a system that is failing people experiencing infertility.

Australia’s Reproductive Technology Accreditation Council (RTAC)  and the UK’s Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) both restrict egg/sperm or embryo  donations to a maximum of 10 recipient families (and in some Australian states, legislation has meant that the maximum numbers are even less).  In the USA, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) guidelines suggest a maximum  of 6 recipient families.

Cases like the one documented in this BBC article suggest that whatever best practice suggests to us is a reasonable and safe way to practice third party reproduction, some people (and I really do wonder about what the donor’s motivations could possibly be) think that they know better.  I read this article and really felt extremely concerned for the children who have been conceived as a result of this man’s donations – there is enough history to know this is not a good idea. I fathered 800 children, claims sperm donor