By Gudrun Schultz
LONDON, England, July 5, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A sperm donor who specified that his contributions only be used to father children of heterosexual couples has unknowingly fathered children for three lesbian partnerships.
The Daily Mail reported Sunday on the abuse of sperm donors by fertility clinics who fail to honour the terms of donor contracts—the London Women’s Clinic violated the donor’s contract five times, neglecting to honour the man’s condition that same sex couples would not use his sperm. The clinic’s breach of contract was found out by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA).
Four lesbian women attempted to conceive using his sperm—three were successful. Additionally, even after the clinic discovered the mistake, it gave one couple permission to use the sperm again in order to conceive a sibling for their first baby.
The clinic has not yet contacted the sperm donor to acknowledge the breach of contract.
The Daily Mail also reported on Christine Whipp, 51, who discovered just ten years ago that she was conceived using donor sperm. She says she was devastated by the discovery and now speaks out about the experience.
“There is a real gung-ho attitude in clinics towards the rights and interests of the child and I am not surprised they have ignored the wishes of the donor,” Whipp said. “Donors are very naëve if they think ticking a box will protect what happens to their sperm.”
“How will these children feel if they find out their father did not want them to be created into the situation in which they now live?”
Two years ago an Anglo-Saxon British woman gave birth to twins of African descent after she and her husband underwent in vitro fertilization procedures at a Leeds hospital. A legal battle followed, with the courts eventually ruling that the legal parent was the African biological father.
An investigation into IVF practices revealed that at least 11 other couples who underwent IVF treatment at the Leeds General Infirmary ended up with children from unintended fathers.
See related LifeSiteNews coverage:
IVF Muddle: Black Twins Born to White Parents
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/jun/04062211.html