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The internet is a dangerous wild west of DIY-assisted conception The internet is a dangerous wild west of DIY-assisted conception
(5 months later)
If you type "buy sperm online" into an internet search engine, you will find no shortage of overseas clinics willing to send sperm to the UK. The going rate is approximately $500, excluding shipping costs. There are also "dating" sites, where would-be sperm donors offer their services to would-be parents. Some of the profiles on these sites are of men who have clearly thought seriously about donation. Others are from men who want to "spread their seed" and help women to conceive "the natural way only".If you type "buy sperm online" into an internet search engine, you will find no shortage of overseas clinics willing to send sperm to the UK. The going rate is approximately $500, excluding shipping costs. There are also "dating" sites, where would-be sperm donors offer their services to would-be parents. Some of the profiles on these sites are of men who have clearly thought seriously about donation. Others are from men who want to "spread their seed" and help women to conceive "the natural way only".
It is impossible to tell how common it is for women in Britain to acquire sperm online. The case – reported yesterday – of a woman forcing her 14-year-old daughter to inseminate herself is clearly an extreme one, and most women who use these websites are obtaining sperm for personal use. But there are still good reasons to be worried about the fact that it is increasingly common for people's first port of call when facing any health issue to be Google, rather than their GP.It is impossible to tell how common it is for women in Britain to acquire sperm online. The case – reported yesterday – of a woman forcing her 14-year-old daughter to inseminate herself is clearly an extreme one, and most women who use these websites are obtaining sperm for personal use. But there are still good reasons to be worried about the fact that it is increasingly common for people's first port of call when facing any health issue to be Google, rather than their GP.
In sharp contrast to regulated fertility clinics in this country, DIY sperm donation happens in a regulatory vacuum. Sperm provided by someone one has met online may pose a risk to the health of the woman and any child born as a result. If the man has a low sperm count, the sperm might also be useless. Where insemination happens at home, with sperm obtained online, there is no formal record of that treatment, or the child's genetic parentage. Men who donate sperm in licenced clinics do not acquire any child-support obligations; the same cannot be said of informal sperm donors.In sharp contrast to regulated fertility clinics in this country, DIY sperm donation happens in a regulatory vacuum. Sperm provided by someone one has met online may pose a risk to the health of the woman and any child born as a result. If the man has a low sperm count, the sperm might also be useless. Where insemination happens at home, with sperm obtained online, there is no formal record of that treatment, or the child's genetic parentage. Men who donate sperm in licenced clinics do not acquire any child-support obligations; the same cannot be said of informal sperm donors.
Of course, it could be said that we shouldn't worry too much about people conceiving through arrangements they make over the internet. After all, people conceive after ill-advised one-night stands, so why should we care if they are conceiving through poor online judgment, rather than poor judgment after a drunken night out? What is different about the recent growth in online sperm suppliers is the creation of a new way of having children. In the past, informal sperm donation tended to happen only between people who already knew each other: a not uncommon scenario being a man providing sperm to a lesbian couple. But aside from these informal arrangements between friends, people either reproduced naturally or via regulated assisted conception services. We now face a new category of assisted but unregulated reproduction. Licenced sperm donation is subject to an intricate web of regulations: there are age limits for sperm donors; there are limits on how many families one donor can create; limits on how much a donor can be compensated and donors must provide information that can be passed on to children. Unregulated sperm donation happens with no restrictions at all and no opportunity for any scrutiny of the arrangements that are made.Of course, it could be said that we shouldn't worry too much about people conceiving through arrangements they make over the internet. After all, people conceive after ill-advised one-night stands, so why should we care if they are conceiving through poor online judgment, rather than poor judgment after a drunken night out? What is different about the recent growth in online sperm suppliers is the creation of a new way of having children. In the past, informal sperm donation tended to happen only between people who already knew each other: a not uncommon scenario being a man providing sperm to a lesbian couple. But aside from these informal arrangements between friends, people either reproduced naturally or via regulated assisted conception services. We now face a new category of assisted but unregulated reproduction. Licenced sperm donation is subject to an intricate web of regulations: there are age limits for sperm donors; there are limits on how many families one donor can create; limits on how much a donor can be compensated and donors must provide information that can be passed on to children. Unregulated sperm donation happens with no restrictions at all and no opportunity for any scrutiny of the arrangements that are made.
And sperm donation is certainly not an isolated instance of people bypassing regulated health services. It is easy to buy prescription drugs online without a prescription, even though the whole point of classifying the medicine as prescription-only is that self-medication is unsafe. Offshore online pharmacies will ship medicines to anyone with a credit card, or paypal account, regardless of the risk to health. Recall the tragic case last year of Sarah Catt, who had bought abortion pills from an internet site which she took shortly before she was due to give birth.And sperm donation is certainly not an isolated instance of people bypassing regulated health services. It is easy to buy prescription drugs online without a prescription, even though the whole point of classifying the medicine as prescription-only is that self-medication is unsafe. Offshore online pharmacies will ship medicines to anyone with a credit card, or paypal account, regardless of the risk to health. Recall the tragic case last year of Sarah Catt, who had bought abortion pills from an internet site which she took shortly before she was due to give birth.
It is interesting that the biggest challenge to the regulation of assisted reproduction has not – perhaps surprisingly – come from new technologies and scientific developments, but instead from the fact that the internet has made it extraordinarily easy for people to navigate making their own arrangements outside of the regulated sector. Perhaps what we should fear most is not some scary new discovery in the laboratory, but the wholesale bypassing of regulation through internet-assisted conception.It is interesting that the biggest challenge to the regulation of assisted reproduction has not – perhaps surprisingly – come from new technologies and scientific developments, but instead from the fact that the internet has made it extraordinarily easy for people to navigate making their own arrangements outside of the regulated sector. Perhaps what we should fear most is not some scary new discovery in the laboratory, but the wholesale bypassing of regulation through internet-assisted conception.
We cannot know what the consequences will be of an increasingly DIY approach to healthcare. The opportunity for good, informed advice may be lost, as is the possibility of evidence-based regulation. Perhaps we need to persuade people of the advantages of talking through their options with a trained professional. If someone thinks that the internet is the best place to find a sperm donor, sex and relationships, education in the UK has not done a very good job. Regulated fertility provision in the UK may not be perfect, but it is undoubtedly better able to protect the interests of women and children than the wild west of DIY-assisted conception.We cannot know what the consequences will be of an increasingly DIY approach to healthcare. The opportunity for good, informed advice may be lost, as is the possibility of evidence-based regulation. Perhaps we need to persuade people of the advantages of talking through their options with a trained professional. If someone thinks that the internet is the best place to find a sperm donor, sex and relationships, education in the UK has not done a very good job. Regulated fertility provision in the UK may not be perfect, but it is undoubtedly better able to protect the interests of women and children than the wild west of DIY-assisted conception.
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