Information for potential sperm donor

Hi. I noticed these forums seem to be for recipients of donor sperm/eggs. Hopefully this message is allowed.
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I read in the paper today some advertising by IVF Australia saying there are only 10 registered donors left in NSW. I was pretty surprised by these figures and the need for donor sperm so I'm thinking about donating. I just had a few questions..

1. Is there a shortage of donor sperm in Queensland like there is in NSW?

2. If not, because I live in Queensland (Gold Coast), can I donate in NSW? Are there clinics close to the border (i.e. Tweed)?

3. I'm aware that the law in NSW permits offspring of donor sperm to make contact with the donor once the offspring reaches 18 years. Is this the same in Queensland? I am interested in becoming an anonymous donor, but would also like to make sure that this right for the offspring of my donated sperm was protected by law.

4. Can I require that my sperm only goes to particular recipients? I want my sperm to go to an atheist parent(s) and I'd also like to know the recipients had an inclusive and liberal world view. Are these things I can specify? I realise I can choose between single/same-sex/heterosexual recipients, but this classification is fairly immaterial to me. Is the law the same for NSW and Queensland?

5. How many times can you donate? I read on the IVF Australia website that you can donate to 5 families. What if one family wanted siblings from the same donor, does that mean another family will miss out (i.e. is it 5 donations in total)?

6. If my partner in the future required IVF to become pregnant and I had already reached my limit to donate, could I still use my sperm in IVF treatment for her?

7. How do people feel about receiving donor sperm generally? What concerns do they have?

Thank you.

Hi newdonor,

Welcome to BB!

To answer your questions:

1. Yes there is a national shortage of sperm donors, so Queensland is also experiencing problems, but in NSW it is more acute.

2. If you are going to be a donor, you will now be placed on a national register, which means that you can donate either in NSW or in Queensland.

3. As far as I am aware, the laws are national.

4. As far as I am aware, you can limit your donation to particular types of couples. The IVF clinic you contact will be able to give you more details on this.

5. The donations are for families. So your sperm would be used for one family, for however many children they choose to have (whether that be one child or ten). Once the family is successful, your sperm will only be offered to another 4 families. Again, they can have as many children as they choose to with your sperm.

6. Thats an interesting question. This is my best guess - again check with the clinic for further details - that you would still be able to give sperm for your own family. There are men out there with their own families that choose to donate (and its recommended that they finish their families before donating). However please be aware that if there are issues with your sperm (low count for example) the clinic will be reluctant to use you as a donor, and potentially will reject your application.

7. There are generally 3 types of people that use donors (not in any order): 1) single women that have decided to have a child on their own 2) same sex couples and 3) heterosexual couples that have issues with sperm or ova. When going through a clinic, these groups are counselled on the issues involved in donation, as is the donor. For us, the dream of having a child outweighs the biological concerns. But this is something everyone has to decide for themselves.

Thanks SeaChange. I've contacted Queensland Fertility Group so hopefully they'll be able to answer some of those other questions and perhaps I'll be a new donor soon.

Hi all,

The following answers are from my experience with my Sydney clinic and my extensive reading on the subject.

1. Yes, there is a shortage everywhere in Australia, though the states with the legislation that gives the offspring rights to identify their donor (eg. VIC and NSW) are suffering the most.

2. Donating in QLD would be better for you as in NSW you can not be anonymous anymore.

3. Not yet in QLD that I am aware of. The NSW legislation was enacted in January 2010.

4. Initially my clinic did allow me this choice when I first started donating but not long after they made me resign the paperwork to remove these types of choices. Apparently some drugged-up boffin in Victoria claimed it was discrimination. The new NSW legislation does however give the donor some rights to choice but not many. Basically most of your rights are striped from you once you donate.

5. You can donate as many times as you like but each state has limits on the numbers of families and/or the numbers of offspring. In NSW the limit is currently (as of January 2010) a maximum of 5 families. Yes, these families can have more than one child. It used to be 10 families in NSW with a limit of 20 offspring total from the 10 families. In QLD I think it is still 10 families max with a limit of 20 offspring total from the 10 families.

6. In NSW your partner is counted as one of the five families, thus as a precaution you should keep one family for yourself if you do not have children yet. Not sure about QLD.

7. This is better answered by recipient families than me ...

There is currently no national legislation and no national donor register. NSW just introduced legislation that includes provisions for a state donor registry. Victoria has had legislation and a state donor registry for a number of years. I do not think QLD has either at this point in time. Given time I expect other states will slowly follow suit with VIC and NSW ...

I read today that the shortage is hitting QLD hard too, one of the biggest fertility centres has had to buy sperm from the US.