Reconsidering the number of offspring per gamete donor in the Dutch open-identity system

Abstract

The introduction of legislation in the Netherlands in 2004 enabling donor offspring to identify and make contact with their donors has led to a need to reconsider the number of offspring that an individual semen donor may produce. To this end, we made a survey on the limits for offspring per donor in 29 different countries, distinguishing between systems with anonymous and open-identity sperm donation. We counted donations as individual offspring conceived, or as the number of women/families helped, by a single donor. The interests of the various participants in gamete donation in open-identity and anonymous systems are considered with some of the basic assumptions and interactions between the different parties that might be used to formulate reasonable guidelines. A number of recommendations are made.

Keywords:

• Semen
• sperm donation
• donor children
• offspring
• limits
• open identity
• anonymity
• considerations
• guidelines

Acknowledgements

The authors like to thank Drs. Thomas Ebner, Landes- Frauen- und Kinderklinik, Linz, Austria; Chuhsing Kate Hsiao, Taiwan University, Taipei; Maw-Sheng Lee, Lee Woman's hospital, Taichung, Taiwan; Petra Thorn, Mörfelden, Germany; John Peek, Fertility Associates, Auckland, New Zealand; Johan T. Hazekamp, Volvat Medical Senter, Oslo, Norway; Carlos Calhaz-Jorge, Hospital de Santa Maria, Lisboa, Portugal; Mr. Ole Schou, Cryos International, Aarhus, Denmark and M. Thomas van den Heuvel, L.Agence de la biomedicine, France, for their help in clarifying issues on donor insemination in their country.