{"id":286730,"date":"2022-02-27T01:27:22","date_gmt":"2022-02-27T01:27:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/sperm-donors-anonymity-could-be-under-threat-from-dna-testing-websites\/"},"modified":"2022-02-27T01:27:22","modified_gmt":"2022-02-27T01:27:22","slug":"sperm-donors-anonymity-could-be-under-threat-from-dna-testing-websites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/sperm-donors-anonymity-could-be-under-threat-from-dna-testing-websites\/","title":{"rendered":"Sperm donors&#8217; anonymity could be under threat from DNA testing websites"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Sperm donors&#8217; anonymity could be under threat as men are warned about DNA testing websites that help children get details of blood relatives<\/h2>\n<ul class=\"mol-bullets-with-font\">\n<li class=\"class\"><span class=\"mol-style-bold\">Companies such as 23andMe and AncestryDNA give details of blood relatives<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"class\"><strong>Men who donated sperm decades ago face being contacted by unknown children<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"author-section byline-plain\">By Victoria Allen Science Correspondent For The Daily Mail<\/a> <\/p>\n<p class=\"byline-section\"><span class=\"article-timestamp article-timestamp-published\"> <span class=\"article-timestamp-label\">Published:<\/span>  17:05 EST, 20 February 2022  <\/span> | <span class=\"article-timestamp article-timestamp-updated\"> <span class=\"article-timestamp-label\">Updated:<\/span>  03:14 EST, 21 February 2022  <\/span> <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p> <!-- ad: https:\/\/mads.dailymail.co.uk\/v8\/us\/news\/none\/article\/other\/para_top.html --> <\/p>\n<p><!-- MOL-22124--><br \/>\n<!--[if !IE]&gt;&gt;--><\/p>\n<p>&lt;!&#8211;<br \/>\n<!--[if IE]&gt;--><\/p>\n<p><!--[if !IE]&gt;&gt;--><\/p>\n<p>&lt;!&#8211;<!--[if IE]&gt;--><\/p>\n<p><!--[if !IE]&gt;&gt;--><\/p>\n<p>&lt;!&#8211;<!--[if gte IE 8]&gt;&gt;--><\/p>\n<p>&lt;!&#8211;<\/p>\n<p><!--[if IE 8]&gt;--><\/p>\n<p><!--[if IE 9]&gt;--><\/p>\n<p><!--[if IE]&gt;--><\/p>\n<p><!--[if !IE]&gt; --><\/p>\n<p>&lt;!&#8211;<\/p>\n<p><!--[if IE]&gt;--><\/p>\n<p>  (function (src, d, tag){<br \/>\n    var s = d.createElement(tag), prev = d.getElementsByTagName(tag)[0];<br \/>\n    s.src = src;<br \/>\n    prev.parentNode.insertBefore(s, prev);<br \/>\n    }(&#8220;https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/static\/gunther\/1.17.0\/async_bundle&#8211;.js&#8221;, document, &#8220;script&#8221;));<\/p>\n<p><!--[if !IE]&gt; --><\/p>\n<p>&lt;!&#8211;<!--[if IE]&gt;--><\/p>\n<p>    DM.loadCSS(&#8220;https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/static\/gunther\/gunther-2159\/video_bundle&#8211;.css&#8221;);<\/p>\n<p><!--[if !IE]&gt; --><\/p>\n<p>&lt;!&#8211; <\/p>\n<p><!-- MOL-22124--><\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Men who donated sperm decades ago face being contacted by unknown children due to DNA testing websites, the fertility regulator has warned.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Companies such as 23andMe and AncestryDNA give details of blood relatives which allow the children of sperm donors to work out who they are.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Julia Chain, head of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, said \u2018donor anonymity as we knew it has gone\u2019. Going forward, she said questions have been raised over donors being automatically anonymous to the couples and single women they help.<\/p>\n<p>   <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-92a31b5513968a3e\" src=\"image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" data-src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2022\/02\/20\/21\/54436195-0-image-a-1_1645392598435.jpg\" height=\"422\" width=\"634\" alt=\"Companies such as 23andMe and AncestryDNA give details of blood relatives which allow the children of sperm donors to work out who they are\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" \/>   <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-92a31b5513968a3e\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2022\/02\/20\/21\/54436195-0-image-a-1_1645392598435.jpg\" height=\"422\" width=\"634\" alt=\"Companies such as 23andMe and AncestryDNA give details of blood relatives which allow the children of sperm donors to work out who they are\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" \/>   <\/p>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">Companies such as 23andMe and AncestryDNA give details of blood relatives which allow the children of sperm donors to work out who they are<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Mrs Chain raised the issue of sperm donor anonymity after the regulator launched a review of fertility law. In a speech to the Fertility 2022 conference, she said: \u2018The reality is that donor anonymity as we knew it has gone.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">\u2018It has been overtaken by shifts in social attitudes about fertility treatment and donation, and the growth in affordable direct-to-consumer DNA tests.\u2019<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Under a law change, men who have donated sperm since 2005 are only anonymous until any children turn 18. From next year, these men can start being contacted by adult children who can request the donor\u2019s name and address.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Fertility charities are concerned a lack of donors for women who want their child\u2019s biological father to be known to them from the outset is pushing people towards unregulated sperm banks online.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"rotator-panels link-bogr1 linkro-ccox\">\n<li>   <span>Retired teacher, 66, becomes the &#8216;world&#8217;s most prolific&#8230;<\/span> <\/a>   <span>Israeli families whose sons were killed during military&#8230;<\/span> <\/a> <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Nina Barnsley, director of the Donor Conception Network, said the new law has changed the type of man involved. \u2018Instead of 18-year-old medical students, donors now tend to be slightly older men who are happy to be contacted. Allowing men to be named donors could continue that trend. However, it could make situations more difficult when it comes to setting boundaries over what role the donor plays in the child\u2019s life.\u2019<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">On the risk from DNA testing sites, Allan Pacey, professor of andrology at the University of Sheffield, said: \u2018It\u2019s a classic example of the law not keeping pace with technology and society. Men who donated sperm need to be aware their children could find them.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>            <!-- ad: https:\/\/mads.dailymail.co.uk\/v8\/us\/news\/none\/article\/other\/inread_player.html --><\/p>\n<p>      <\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Comments <span class=\"readerCommentsCount\">335<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>\n\t    Share what you think\n          <\/p>\n<ul id=\"rc-tabs\" class=\"js-links dm-tabs cnr5 cleared\">\n<li class=\"dm-tab dm-tab-on bdrgr5 cnr-bdr wogr5 link-wox js-active\">\n        <span class=\"xogr5 tl\"><\/span><br \/>\n        <span class=\"xogr5 tr\"><\/span><br \/>\n        Newest<\/a>\n      <\/li>\n<li class=\"dm-tab bdrgr5 ow-igr2-bx cnr-bdr xogr2 link-gr5ox\">\n        <span class=\"xogr5 tl\"><\/span><br \/>\n        <span class=\"xogr5 tr\"><\/span><br \/>\n        Oldest<\/a>\n      <\/li>\n<li class=\"dm-tab bdrgr5 ow-igr2-bx cnr-bdr xogr2 link-gr5ox\">\n        <span class=\"xogr5 tl\"><\/span><br \/>\n        <span class=\"xogr5 tr\"><\/span><br \/>\n        Best rated<\/a>\n      <\/li>\n<li class=\"dm-tab bdrgr5 ow-igr2-bx cnr-bdr xogr2 link-gr5ox last\">\n        <span class=\"xogr5 tl\"><\/span><br \/>\n        <span class=\"xogr5 tr\"><\/span><br \/>\n        Worst rated<\/a>\n      <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The comments below have not been moderated.<\/p>\n<p class=\"bold pad5 wogr5 rc-info\">\n      The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.\n    <\/p>\n<p>  <\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"rc-title bdrgr2\">We are no longer accepting comments on this article.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sperm donors&#8217; anonymity could be under threat as men are warned about DNA testing websites that help children get details of blood relatives Companies such as 23andMe and AncestryDNA give details of blood relatives Men who donated sperm decades ago face being contacted by unknown children By Victoria Allen Science Correspondent For The Daily Mail <a class=\"read-more-link\" href=\"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/sperm-donors-anonymity-could-be-under-threat-from-dna-testing-websites\/\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-286730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286730","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=286730"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286730\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=286730"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=286730"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=286730"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}