By Dr Vadim Mirmilstein, specialist at Rainbow Fertility Melbourne
One of the first things that individuals and couples who want to have a baby need to do is choose a sperm donor, but the task may need more thought than you think.
Sperm donors are classified as either ‘known’ or ‘clinic-recruited’ depending on the type of relationship between the donor and the woman/couple.
Often known donors can be hard to find as not all acquaintances, friends or family members are comfortable with the idea of donating and with having a child genetically linked to them. However, some people say potential donors are everywhere, if you let it be known.
Some believe using self-insemination with a known sperm donor (e.g. a friend) sometimes feels like the best solution for them. However, if you are thinking of going down this path, I encourage you to think through and discuss a number of matters.
Rainbow Fertility has clinic-recruited sperm donors available (frozen sperm) who have already gone through a lengthy and thorough process to ensure the quality of the sperm or alternatively you can bring your known donor in to complete the medical health checks available.
Using a clinic-recruited sperm donor recruited through a centre like Rainbow Fertility, has several benefits including:
Patients can also select a clinic-recruited sperm donor with particular characteristics that are important to them.
It is important to remember that in Australia, children conceived from donor sperm have the right to access identifying information about the donor when they turn 18.
Clinic-recruited donors that come through a professional centre like Rainbow Fertility, however, have no legal rights to a child. Please note: this may not be the case for known donors. A known donor, as opposed to a clinic-recruited donor, might be able to obtain orders about the child in the Family Law Courts. The woman giving birth is the legal mother of any child born. The recipient couple is financially and legally responsible for the child, and they shall have full parental rights to the child.
Australia also has restrictions in place to limit the number of families that can be created from a single donor.
Whether you use a donor that is known to you or one of our clinic-recruited donors, we encourage you to let Rainbow Fertility help manage the process to ensure the best outcome for you, your partner (if applicable) and the child.
Importantly, whatever path a person decides on, Rainbow Fertility will support your choice. To find out more information about sperm donors visit our donor program page.
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