What makes a man choose to become a sperm donor? Is it a healthy conservative streak, not wishing to waste precious resources, and, perhaps, a belief in recycling? Or, is it a massive ego wank, and the desire to populate the world with reproductions of one’s self? Whatever it is, until they come up with a viable alternative, sperm remains an integral part of producing children. Anything when viewed in isolation, becomes a different kettle of fish altogether. The time-honoured recipe has usually been: physical attraction, copulation, pregnancy, labour and baby. These days, that succession of events and agencies is not, always, possible or preferable for some.

Using A Sperm Donor: Is It a Gamble When Done Correctly?

Everything in life is a gamble, when you really look at it. Security is an illusion we all maintain for as long as possible; until something jumps up and bites us. Physical attraction, AKA sexual chemistry, is evolution’s means of reducing that risk to the species. What we are attracted to on a biological level is supposed to be the best fit for the job. Whether evolution is up to speed on domestic violence, the twenty first century economy and other mitigating factors for healthy and happy children is a moot point. If you really must take a chance, in the words of ABBA “Take a Chance on Me”. That is what sexual and romantic love has to say on the matter.

Is medical negligence a real possibility, when it comes to sperm donorship and artificial insemination? Yes, if the wrong donor sperm or egg is used in the insemination, it open the door to legal action on this basis. In a perfect world we all would be happy to raise children of whatever provenance, but in this materialistic consumer society we are not. We want the child to be a certain colour, race, and from our own stock or choice of stock.

A Cambridge University study by Dr Sophie Zadeh, surveyed mothers, teachers and children to investigate how sperm donor children fared in comparison with children who were parented by couples. The children were aged between four and nine years. Obviously, this is not a long enough study to gather effective data about the positive or negative influence of fathers upon their children. It is, however, a good start in the right direction, as there are far too many assumptions made in this space. The outcome of the study showed no ill effects of parenting, which began via sperm donorship.