Last updated on August 29th, 2024 at 09:00 pm
UK exports of sperm are creating large numbers of donor-conceived children worldwide. This may be a way of getting around the UK’s 10-family limit. Experts call for the strictest possible regulation in this area.
1UK Sperm Exports Dodge the 10-Family Limit for Donors
Experts worry that sperm exports from the UK bypass the country’s strict 10-family limit for donors. Although fertility clinics in the UK limit donors to a maximum of 10 families, no restrictions exist once the sperm or eggs leave the country. This has allowed an industrial-scale practice where sperm from the UK is exported and used in many parts of the world to give rise to many donor-conceived children and potentially increased biological half-siblings.
Experts Call for Greater Controls over UK Sperm Exports
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, HFEA, is being called upon to put stricter controls on the export of sperm from the UK. The chairman of the Association for Reproductive and Clinical Scientists, Professor Jackson Kirkman-Brown, has said that the 10-family limit for UK sperm donations must be extended to include abroad. “If the 10-family limit is necessary in the UK, it should also apply to UK sperm used abroad,” he said. The rising population of donor-conceived children worldwide is giving cause for concern in managing biological half-siblings by experts.
Challenges Faced by a Donor-Conceived Child to Have Several Half-Siblings
Professor Lucy Frith, of the University of Manchester, who researches donor-conceived people, says that the number of biological half siblings can be an issue. “While making contact with half-siblings is often positive, managing relationships with a large and growing number can become unmanageable,” she said. There isn’t an exact limit on the number of half siblings, but more than 10 is generally seen as problematic.
Long-Term Impact of UK Sperm Storage on the Number of Donor Siblings
Sperm storage in the UK has long-term implications with regard to the number of donor siblings. According to Professor Kirkman-Brown, the sperm can remain viable for decades, leading to scenarios where donor-conceived offspring might have siblings older than their own parents. “Frozen sperm doesn’t age, so it’s possible to have donor siblings who are older than the donor’s children,.
Calls for HFEA to police UK sperm export limits
Experts believe that the HFEA needs to introduce stricter policies with respect to the UK’s sperm exports. Rachel Cutting, director of compliance and information at the HFEA, says that “international sperm donations are outside the scope of our current remit”. “As exports are beyond the limits of our powers, it would be better for a cooling-off period to be enforced in the countries accepting the exports”; that is what Sarah Norcross from the Progress Educational Trust says, meaning that regulations would be pursued either to enforce the 10-family limit on exported sperm or to make the number of donor-conceived families transparent.
UK’s Contribution to Global Sperm Donation Market
Recent figures suggest that, for the first time, the UK has turned from an importer of sperm into an exporter, with 7,542 straws exported between 2019 and 2021. That expansion by Cryos, the world’s biggest sperm and egg bank, to Manchester underlines Britain’s growing part in the world market for sperm donation.
