Children of lesbians ‘at risk’ due to prolific sperm donors - from Pink News - all the latest gay news from the gay community

Children of lesbians 'at risk' due to prolific sperm donors

By Staff Writer, PinkNews.co.uk • October 10, 2008 - 0:12

Only heterosexual couples can access fertility treatments

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A health official in South Australia has warned that the state's rules on sperm donation could put the children of some lesbians at risk.

At present only heterosexual couples and those at risk of transmitting a serious defect can access fertility treatments.

This has led some women to use unofficial means.

There have been reports of one man impregnating 30 lesbian women, whose children now socialise together.

Unless they are aware of their shared parentage, there is concern some of them could commit incest.

Associate Professor Dutney, a former chair of the Council on Reproductive Technology in South Australia, said the state's regulations need to be reformed.

"The effect of our regulations here in SA is that they produce unregulated donor conception, whereas a system with a lighter touch would bring a whole lot more parents and children into the light," he told the Adelaide Advertiser.

"The situation at the moment is that … by adhering to the SA legislation, clinics have to be in breach of the national code.

"Under SA's legislation, anonymity is guaranteed while under the national code of ethics, the child's access to knowledge has to be provided."

The paper quoted another case of a man who has fathered 29 children.

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