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'Severe shortage' of sperm donors
Ian Sample, science correspondent Monday August 15, 2005 The Guardian
Government plans to make fertility treatment more accessible to single women and lesbian couples are likely to be ineffective because of a severe shortage of sperm donors, a leading fertility expert has told the Guardian.
Proposals to urge fertility clinics to be more flexible in who they offer treatment to are to be outlined in a Department of Health consultation paper tomorrow.
Many clinics only offer fertility treatment to heterosexual couples to ensure they comply with the 1990 Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority Act. It states that clinics must consider the welfare of the future child and specifically the need for a father figure before offering treatment.
Article continues The Commons select committee on science and technology last year concluded the act to be "offensive" to unconventional families of single parents and single sex couples.
Bill Ledger, who runs a fertility clinic in Sheffield, said the government's proposals were laudable but unlikely to be effective because of legal changes in April that removed the status of anonymity from sperm donors. Under the new law, any child born from donor sperm can request to know the identity of their biological father when they turn 18.
"We are seeing longer and longer waiting lists because of the loss of anonymity," Prof Ledger said. "The situation has become so bad, that we are looking at importing anonymous sperm from abroad."
The proposals, which are the result of a Department of Health review to bring the 1990 HFEA Act up to date, will also outline plans to clamp down on internet websites such as Man Not Included and SpermDirect offering courier services that deliver fresh sperm samples directly to women's homes.
The websites have thrived partly because the change in anonymity law applies only to sperm that is frozen and stored, allowing donors of fresh sperm to retain their anonymity. Many fertility specialists have deep reservations about sperm-by-post websites, arguing that they do not have strict enough controls in place to screen donor sperm for diseases such as HIV.
Professor Ledger argues that the websites should be regulated to ensure they provide a safe service but not banned outright. "Using these services has got to be a step better than asking some half-drunk man to have unprotected sex, which is presumably what happens otherwise," he said.
The Department of Health confirmed it was keen to rein in websites offering sperm. "There's an issue with the websites because they're a loophole and that's what we want to clamp down on. The original HFEA Act was drawn up before the internet was being used to offer services like this," a spokeswoman said.
But Prof Ledger said the reluctance of many clinics to offer treatment to single women and lesbians and the change in anonymity law had fuelled the rise of websites selling sperm.
"The reason they've sprung up is that we as clinics have failed to meet the need, and as long as there's a shortage of anonymous sperm donors, that will continue," he said.
Jean Paul Mayton of the HFEA said that it was crucial that women had enough information to know where they could seek fertility treatment without the fear of being rejected and without having to resort to websites.
"Women need to know they can get treatment from a safe, licensed clinic that isn't instantly going to turn their nose up at them. We'd never want people to feel they have to go to a risky internet service," he said. "What is needed is better public information about what services individual clinics will provide."
Liberal Democrat MP Evan Harris argued against banning websites such as SpermDirect and Man Not Included until there was evidence that the services were unsafe.
"The government should be reticent to regulate these areas without serious evidence that they cause harm," he said. "As long as the people using these services are aware of the risks, and they generally are, then it's really a case of buyer beware."
"The government has created a market for these services by first of all allowing clinics to discriminate against solo parents and lesbian couples and secondly by removing the anonymity of sperm donors," he said.
The proposals will be open for public consultation for 12 weeks before the Department of Health announces its recommendations.
