“We need a central register across Australia, and a central bank so that everyone operates out of the same one … and it’s not dependent on which doctor they go to,” she said. Rebecca Kerner, the Australian and New Zealand Infertility Counsellors Association chair, said a national system could allow monitoring of conceptions, as well as counselling and other records. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoonemail newsletters for your daily news roundup “Currently we have a postcode lottery that creates a class system within our donor-conceived community based on where they were conceived,” she said. She said there needed to be a common list and common legislation across Australia. She said information needed to be kept in a central register, “not just on someone’s computer or in someone’s head”. There was also a “huge problem” with informal donations, Shackleton said, where thousands of people were sourcing sperm and eggs online in an unregulated environment. “We are now advising our members that you will never really know when you get to the full number.” “When donor-conceived people find out they have that many siblings, it is very distressing. “Sperm was transferred across states in Australia and, once it leaves a state, nobody keeps records of what happens to it,” she said. The DCA national director, Aimee Shackleton, said it was possible for someone in Victoria to find out they had 12 siblings, then years later through an ancestral DNA sharing website find another nine in NSW, and another seven in South Australia. The cost of sperm donation varies across the country, but a vial of sperm generally ranges from 400 to 2,000. The donor does not pay anything for the tests.Every state and territory has had a review or inquiry in the past decade or so. Travel and time spent in the unit are compensated. Donated sperm or eggs may also be needed when a person is a carrier of a serious hereditary disease or has a genetic abnormality causing infertility. The aim of the tests is to minimise the risk of transmission of genetic or sexually transmissible diseases such as mucoviscidosis, HIV, hepatitis B or C, herpes, syphilis or the presence of pathogenic germs. What tests are performed?Ī blood sample and urine sample will be requested every three months, during the donation period. The donor may then continue to donate at a rate of once or twice a week. All the personal details will be stored in a strongbox accessible only to the doctor responsible for the sperm bank and the doctor responsible for our unit.Ī first sperm donation will allow us to judge whether it is of sufficient quality to withstand freezing//thawing. It will contain a description of the physical attributes of the donner (weight, height, eye, hair and skin colour) so that the donor can be matched to the mother's partner. He will then sign a contract (which certifies that he has taken note of the information given to him and that he agrees to reveal his identity to the child at majority).Įach file will be identified by a pseudonym to ensure the anonymity. The doctor will check that the medical history complies with the criteria, answers all questions and informs the future donor of the legal framework governing sperm donation in Switzerland. The future donor will learn in detail the specifics of sperm donation during a first meeting with the doctor. What are the different stages of donation? Providing you are suitable, you will be asked to attend our sperm donation clinic in London once or twice a week for between five and ten weeks to produce sperm. What is the maximum number of children who could result from a donation?Ī donor may produce a maximum of eight children. For instance, Phoebe, who was willing to donate her eggs for a token. The child has no rights regarding the donor, and the donor has no duty toward the child. The blog post, seen by the Star, has comments from over 100 men and women willing to donate their sperms or ova for some cash. Nevertheless, it should be emphasised that the law excludes any request for knowledge of paternity regarding the donor. Swiss law states that after reaching the age of majority, the child may, if they wish, learn the identity of the donor. Couples may not know the identity of the donor, and vice versa: the donor may not know who received his donation. The legal parents of the child are the mother and her husband or wife. What rights do the donor and the child have? They may donate sperm to one centre only. They must not have a genetic disease or a sexually transmissible disease (HIV, hepatitis, syphilis, etc.). All men aged 18 to 45 years, resident in Switzerland and capable of exercising judgement may donate their sperm.
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