Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-01-14.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what recommendations the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has made to the Department of Health in the light of recently published claims that about 800 babies have already been fathered by a 41-year old man in the UK who has been an unlicensed sperm donor for 16 years.
Lord Prior of Brampton
A private arrangement between a man and a woman for him to provide sperm to her for insemination at home is not covered by the legislative controls set out in the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, as amended. Unlike regulated sperm donation, where donors are screened for inheritable genetic conditions and tested for the presence of serious infections such as HIV, women making a private arrangement have no such protection and risk themselves and any resulting child contracting a serious, potentially life threatening, disease.
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority advises that the safest and most reliable way of obtaining sperm from a donor is via a clinic that is licensed, inspected and regulated by the Authority.
