Tuesday, 12 January 2010

To know or not to know


Should offspring of sperm donors have the right to know the identity of their donor? This has been a long held debate and it is suggested that it is a case of whose rights are going to be privileged - the donor or the offspring.


In the UK since 2005 offspring have the right to know the identity of their donor once they reach the age of 18. As many point out this has led to far fewer coming forward to donate. The reason often cited is that offspring may make financial demands of the donor once they know their identity.


However Dr. Ian Mitchell, a professor of pediatrics and bioethics at the University of Calgary believes that allowing donors to donate anonymously simply to increase numbers of donations is not a good enough reason. He says “you are bypassing the ethical argument and going straight to the pragmatic argument."


To see further debate on this issue please follow this link: http://www.cmaj.ca/earlyreleases/11jan10-disclosing-the-identity-of-sperm-donors.dtl

No comments:

Post a Comment