In article >,
ChattyCathy > wrote:


> I know a ******* couple that decided to have a baby. They got a good
> friend to donate the sperm. The Mom had a gorgeous little girl and her
> wife legally adopted the baby to avoid any other legal hassles that may or
> may not occur in the future. Nothing wrong with that, IMHO. But gawd,
> buying sperm on the Internet? How the heck did they know how healthy (or
> not) the donor was? They took a stupid risk there, IMNSHO. Both he and the
> baby could have ended up with some awful STD - and who knows if the donor
> doesn't carry some other gene that could pass on any number of hereditary
> diseases? Surely this couple have some male friend(s) that would have been
> willing to donate sperm?

Getting sperm from friends or relatives has some legal problems. Still,
this is not a unique or even remotely new problem. There have been
infertile males for a long time, men with wives, and they both want
children. Any reasonable-sized area has sperm banks. That sperm has
been screened for STDs and genetic defects. Although it is completely
anonymous, various characteristics can be specified. It's not
surprising that a couple of the same race, would want their child to be
of that race also. We have friends who are Jewish. They wanted sperm
from a Jewish donor. They were so happy with the kid that they
requested the same donor for #2.

--
Dan Abel
Petaluma, California USA