In the news there’s been people buying sperm online from mystery donors, allegedly because they can’t afford it from private practices.

This reminded me of the fact that last year I did look into donating sperm to the NHS (i.e i don’t get paid and it’s official rather than black market). They said there was a shortage back then too, and since I was already a blood and stem cell donor, and didn’t have qualms about people using my sperm, I figured it would be helpful. But i ended up being a bit busy during the summer so i put it on hold while my life quietened down.

I was also turned away by a few things:

• You have to put stuff like what job you are, which made me think “oh so people are only selecting really smart/successful people? I probably shouldn’t bother then?” because i simply study full time. I also have taken 2 break years so now on paper I look like a very unemployed person who took too long to do a degree.
• You can donate to private organisations and get paid, OR to the NHS. Part of me was like “hmm maybe i should get paid for this” but truth be told i now only feel comfortable doing it through the NHS, even if its completely unpaid.
• I started to consider if future life partners would be against me having donated. I think most people would see it as a vain and genghis khan-y/elon musk-ish “gene spreading” behaviour. Idk!
• It seems to be seen as unethical by some religious people. I don’t really get why - i think it’s because they believe a child should be specifically between husband and wife. But this isn’t possible in some cases, and sperm donation allows people to stay married to the spouse they chose, or stay unmarried, while raising life. I guess it’s because there are kids that need to be adpoted?

Now i’m not sure how helpful of a thing it is to do. There’s a possibility that the current news cycle is misrepresenting the online sperm trade and people are just “into that,” for one reason or another.

Are there any negatives i haven’t thought of? A lot of people seem to dissaprove of it, i don’t get why. I wouldn’t really be bothered with having to meet a child 18 years after the fact, when they’re allowed to contact you.