# Donor Sperm Error



## juju81 (Nov 2, 2007)

Hi there,

I wonder if you could advise me.

I have a beautiful 9 month old son conceived using donor sperm

I received a telephone call from my clinic today to advise me that there was a problem with the donor we chose.  The donor wanted to stay anonymous (european donor) and so should never have been imported into the UK.  This obviously has some repurcussions for us as a family.  The remaining vial we have needs to be destroyed and he has been banned from use in the UK which means we cannot have anymore children using this donor (obtaining sibling sperm).  It also means that my little boy will not be able to trace siblings or get any information about his biological father.  I am very shocked at this news and I'm not really sure how to handle it.  I want answers, obviously, but I am quite weak when it comes to confrontation and the nurses at my clinic are just lovely.  Apparently the clinic that originally imported the sperm have had the HFEA come down on them hard aswell as another clinic and my clinic have said the information they originally recieved wasnt clear.

Where exactly do we stand and is this worth our time taking it further?

I am feeling physically sick about it all.

Any advice would be gratefully appreciated

Thanks


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## NatGamble (Mar 1, 2007)

Hi Juju

There is nothing worse than having the goalposts change around you without any warning or input, and I really do feel for you.

From a legal perspective, there are competing legal rules here.  One says that donor sperm can only be used in accordance with the consent given (which presumably in this case did not include your donor consenting to be identifiable) and that clinics have to honour that consent.  The other says that donors in the UK have to be registered as being identifiable.  

Ultimately, what has happened should never have happened, and I am not surprised that the HFEA has come down hard on the importing clinic.  However, that does not help you or answer the question of where you now stand, and whether your clinic will honour the terms of his consent, or honour the rule that all donors in the UK are now identifiable.  

I would recommend that you do two things from here:
1) Write to your clinic (and copy in the HFEA), explaining what has happened and asking them to clarify what information your son will be able to access about the donor.  If you want your donor to be identifiable I would make that clear.  This will enable you to set things out clearly, and push them to consider the situation properly and respond in writing - easier than conversations with nurses you like.
2) Contact the Donor Conception Network for help and support - they are an excellent charity which supports donor conceived families, and I am sure can help you with these communications.  It sounds like you could do with some support and someone to speak for you, and they may be able to help with this.

If you want or need to get into things more formally, the next step would be to involve a lawyer to act for you.  

I wish you all the very best of luck with getting this sorted out.

Natalie


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## juju81 (Nov 2, 2007)

Thank you for your reply.

After speaking to my clinic again it appears that the error may actually lie with the importing clinic and the hfea. The donor was imported in 2001 pre-change in law. It should have been destroyed in 2005 when the laws changed and obviously wasn't. When my clinic applied for change in licence the importing clinic agreed it and the hfea rubber stamped it - something that should NEVER have happened. My clinic were only made aware of this when another error similar in the country alerted all clinics to check stock etc so my clinic contacted the import clinic to double check their records and that's when the problem arose.


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## juju81 (Nov 2, 2007)

They have tried appealing to the hfea on our behalf but have been told it would be unlawful


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