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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.

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Male Order: 03/12/2021

03/12/2021

BBC Radio 4 - Male Order, 03/12/2021Search BBC

Aleks Krotoski investigates into the online fertility market.

Online sperm donation marketplaces let people know a donor from a child's birth, but they also create risks - to personal safety and the health of the mother and future child.

It costs £1000 for a vial of sperm from a licensed sperm bank, and one vial rarely does the job. But is price the only reason people go to the online fertility marketplaces? In this programme, Dr Aleks Krotoski investigates why people risk their personal safety and the health of themselves and their future children by using this unregulated marketplace. 

Donor Alex is looking for a perfect match - a recipient who wants him to be involved from the beginning. MJ and Milo may be just the couple he's looking for. Alex wants to be a "known" donor.

But James isn't interested in being involved with his donor-conceived kids' lives. He has dozens of children through his activities in the donor Facebook Groups - including Kim and Aaron, who have travelled to New York to receive a fresh sample because they hope this will increase their chances of getting pregnant.

But not all donors have good intentions. For some, like Gennadji Raivich who was found guilty of sexually abusing of a recipient in 2014, it's a way to receive sexual gratification in exchange for their sperm.

This marketplace creates opportunities for new kinds of families, but because it is unregulated and run by a core group of donors who have been operating in some cases for a decade, it also creates opportunities for exploitation.

Just because the internet lets us do something, should we?

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