Is anonymity for the better?-Xochitl D, Angelica G.

There are two types of Sperm donors, the anonymous and the non-anonymous. Before choosing this topic my partner and I had no idea that donors could stay anonymous, meaning that all of the information and identity of the man donating sperm would stay confidential. For the donors, being anonymous can be a surplus, but in the other hand, parents receiving the sperm have no idea of how the baby’s health or well being could be affected. 

Sperm donation

One problem of not knowing who the biological father is that the parents won’t be aware or know if there are any health risks. For example, if the biological father is a carrier of aids, a virus transmitted through contact with infected blood, semen, and vaginal fluids, the baby would be born with aids. Another example would be if the biological father has sickle cell disease, an inherited disorder where a person’s red blood cells misshapen to sickle shape this blocks the flow of blood through the body causing pain, the child has a possibility of inheriting the disease. 
Sickle cell

Mental health; if the donor is anonymous and none of their medical background information is given but they’ve been treated for mental disorders such as; schizophrenia, autism, down syndrome, it could affect the child later on if not right away.

 As our research began we came across an article on The Guardian that explained what two mother’s went through with anonymous sperm donation. As they searched for the right “father” for their future baby they came across a profile that had information that they liked. The donor had gotten a bachelor’s degree, a masters, and a PhD. Years passed and they came to find out that the information given to them about the donor was incorrect. The donor had been a college dropout with schizophrenia, a narcissistic personality disorder and a criminal history. All the couple had to do was google the name Christian Aggeles. 


 Risks of anonymity

With this problem come many others that affect the child. The baby’s health was already at risk. He was prone to having mental illness like the ones his “father” had. This goes to show that not only physical health is at risk. The donor may have not had enough anonymity since some of the information was given to the mothers but imagine if he was completely anonymous, the child would have grown up with a possibility of having these illnesses and not knowing where, how, or why he got them unless the parents told them the truth. 
Another problem that could come up doesn’t really involve any health risks but it is for child’s sake. It might be that the parents tell the child the truth at a early age so the child grows up knowing that he/she doesn’t really have any information about the father, but something else that could happen is that the parents may not know how to tell the child the truth and as the child grows up the truth might be revealed. If donors remain anonymous there won’t be a possibility for the child to be able to find out or get to meet the father. 

         In conclusion we are against Sperm Donors remaining anonymous because of all the problems that it could bring to families or babys. 

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