Male Order

Original version

BBC Radio 4 FM

BBC Radio 4 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced BBC Home Service.

BBC Radio 4

Radio 4

Radio 4 (FM)

Documentaries

Factual

Aleks Krotoski investigates sperm donors and the unofficial online fertility market.

Aleks Krotoski investigates sperm donors and why people put themselves and their future children at risk by going online to find them.

BBC Radio 4 LW

Male Order: 4. Power Plays

4. Power Plays

BBC Radio 4 - Male Order, 4. Power Plays

Donors make the rules in the online sperm marketplaces.

A criminal case of sexual abuse exposes the power structures and misinformation that dominates the online sperm donor marketplace.

In 2014, a woman came to London to receive sperm from a donor she found online. Later, he was convicted in a criminal court on two counts of sexual abuse against her. In court, it was argued that the donor, a university professor and popular member of the sperm donor marketplace, had taken advantage of his position of power - he had control over the thing she was desperate to have.

Dr Tanya Palmer, a legal scholar at the University of Sussex, has argued that the UK criminal law lacks legislation over what she describes as chronic sexual abuse - acts that on their own are not offenses, but taken together can be seen as an ongoing assault of a person’s ability to give consent. In these marketplaces, she says, prolific and long-term donors are determining what new recipients should agree to, and what they feel they can say no to as well.

Presenter: Aleks Krotoski

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Male Order

4. Power Plays

Genres

Brand

BBC Radio 4 FM

About BBC Radio 4