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Donating Sperm

Sperm donation - donors are in demand
Sperm donation - donors are in demand

The idea of donating sperm seems to come up at least once in the life of every male student as a desperate idea to make some cash so we thought we should probably clear up a few things about donating sperm.

There is a huge shortage of sperm donors in the UK

This is because there are new laws that give children conceived by sperm donation are legally allowed to access non identifying information about their parent(s) when they are 16 and identifying information when they are 18.

This means that if you donate sperm you may be approached 19 years later by someone conceived from your sperm and this has put a lot of people off.

This is obviously something that needs to be considered massively, do you really want to put in the situation of having a 19 year old son or daughter at your door asking questions?

Getting paid to donate

It's a myth! Many people seem to think you can make a fortune but that is simply not true. You may only claim reasonable expenses incurred when donating.

See the following directions for receiving money as a donor according to the human fertilisation and embryology act 1990:

  1. Individual donors of gametes may be given money or other benefits for the supply of their gametes, subject to the conditions of these Directions.
  2. In money or money's worth, a donor may be reimbursed reasonable expenses which he or she has incurred, within the UK , in connection with the donation.
  3. Donors may be compensated for loss of earnings (but not for other costs or inconveniences) up to a daily maximum of £55.19 but with an overall limit of £250 (or the equivalent in local currency) for each course of sperm donation or each cycle of egg donation.
  4. There is no restriction on the value of other benefits which may be given to the donor, but the only benefits which may be offered for this purpose are treatment services. These services should be provided to the donor in the course of the donation cycle unless there is a medical reason why they cannot be provided at that time.

We’re certainly not telling people whether they should or should not donate sperm, we simply wanted to state the facts on receiving payment for donation and understand the law about your anonymity as a donor.

You may also be interested in donating blood.