Understanding Legal Rights and Responsibilities for Sperm Donors

According to the American Pregnancy Association website, approximately one in eight couples use sperm donation alongside fertility treatments in an attempt to achieve a pregnancy.

Types

• Sperm donors can be either known and unknown. The Shared Journey website reports that known sperm donors are often close friends or relatives of a couple attempting to become pregnant who feel more comfortable using someone they know as a donor. Unknown sperm donors provide sperm at a sperm bank and their identity is unknown to the recipient.

Known Donor

• According to the Shared Journey website, the legal issues involved in being a known sperm donor are more complex than those surrounding an unknown donor. Known sperm donors can attempt to claim parental rights. Legal paperwork is required for a known sperm donor to relinquish parental rights.

Unknown Donor

• The American Pregnancy Association explains that when a donation of sperm is made to a sperm bank, the donor signs legal paperwork relinquishing any parental rights to a child, with their identity remaining unknown. In some states the identity of the donor can be revealed to a child after their 18th birthday.