Experts thinks she will not succeed

A Massachusetts woman is trying desperately to identify the anonymous sperm donor father of her twin daughters who have "potentially fatal health issues". However, the sperm bank, New England Cryogenic Center, has adamantly refused. A spokesman for another sperm bank, California Cryobank, which has offices in the Boston area, told the Boston Herald, "My confident assumption is she will not prevail. You can’t compel somebody to make their medical records public. It’s against the law."

The 35-year-old single woman, known only as Jane Doe, became pregnant with the twins in 2000 after she was artificially inseminated with the sperm of an anonymous medical student known as D237. He had sold it in the early 1990s. Ms Doe claims that she had been assured that the twins would be able to contact D237. Because the twins apparently have a serious growth disorder, the need for contact became especially urgent for her.

However the sperm bank insists that D237 never agreed to be identified. "These are the things she says," says the sperm bank’s attorney, "and we dispute all of those allegations. We have all along."

Jane Doe’s version of the story, as reproduced in the Boston Herald, is painful reading. She now insists that it is unjust to deny children the right to know their biological father:

"I initiated this litigation for my children’s sake, since they were being denied the right to know their father’s identity, despite his agreement to be known to them being the basis for their conception. I also took on this litigation to fight for the rights of other donated children because I don’t think it right that any person should be forbidden from knowing their fathers’ identities or family health information. I would like the Massachusetts court to recognize that donor-conceived children are as much real people with the same fundamental needs as any other children, and that their interests should be regarded as just as important." ~ Boston Herald, Oct 5

Michael Cook

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Michael Cook

Michael Cook edits BioEdge, a bioethics newsletter, and MercatorNet, an on-line magazine whose focus is human dignity. He writes from Sydney, Australia.

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