Should Britain Scrap Their Law to Give Anonymity to Sperm Donors?

In 2005, Britain had scrapped the law that protected the anonymity of sperm donors and allowed children to learn the identity of their donor fathers. This move was welcomed by those seeking to find their biological parent. However, sperm donation has dropped in numbers since 2005 and this has resulted in a shortage of sperm donors in Britain. This was a direct result of the law which granted children access to information about their biological parent. According to the figures from Human Fertilisation and Embrylogy Authority, the sperm donations had dropped considerably. In 1991, Britain logged 503 sperm donors and then in 2006, after the law was changed, the number dropped to 307. Experts have warned that Britain needs 500 sperm donations per year to cope with couples' demands of donor insemination in Britain.

The law that was introduced in 2005, has both negative and positive aspects. The positive being, it gives those seeking their biological parent a right to do so. It also give access to those who want to know any medical history that they may have taken on from their biological parent. It also increases the possibility of avoiding unintentional incest, which itself is an ethical issue. However on the other hand, the negative aspect of the law is that desperate measures may push couples to seek illegal means of obtaining sperm donation from unregistered clinics.

The accounts of many donor children should also be taken into consideration when pondering on whether this law should be scrapped or not. Several newspapers and magazines have ran stories about those who were born from donor and their experiences as donor children. Most of their accounts carried a similar tone of being 'different' from other children. The experience of not knowing their biological parent and the pain of not having a 'normal' one mother and one father upbringing.

Should Britain scrap the law to give anonymity to sperm donors? Britain should not remove this law but at the same time, should not ignore the demands of donor insemination, which is quite a serious issue. There needs to be some sort of regulation of giving assurance to sperm donors, who may not be comfortable without anonymity.