Sperm donor shortage dampens

The line is: "You have millions to spare, we only need one."

There is such a shortage of sperm donors in Australia that one of the nation's largest companies IVF has taken desperate measures - an advertising campaign directed to the generosity of men''.''

In Australia, it is illegal to have a trade (buy or sell) the provisions relating to human tissues, including sperm, ova and embryos, so that aspiring parents rely on donations.

Michael Chapman, a top fertility specialist with IVF Australia, said that in recent years, the number of sperm donors has been reduced from more than 100 in Australia less than 30, largely due to changes to the law governing anonymity.

All sperm donors should agree to provide identifying information so the child can reach them once you reach the 18 - a change that has been put into effect gradually over the past three years in all states.

And doctors can not bring the sperm abroad that has been donated anonymously. Chapman said that about 15 percent of all donated sperm in Australia came from abroad.

However, some clinics in Australia to import up to 80 percent of its supply of sperm from the United States, which is legal as long as the person is not anonymous and unpaid for the supply of sperm.

IVF Australia uses only the local donors, as it believes that foreign donors may make it difficult to locate the parents in the future. But it has a waiting list of 18 months is too long for most women over 38 years, Chapman said.

He hoped the ad campaign, which is running on major sporting and business web sites - and also includes the donation to online de''una not save a life and hopefully will reduce un''-timeout six months.

"I think there are probably men out there ... if you really think about what could be considered a useful thing to do and take the consequences of loss of anonymity in the future. Men without children [and] in its 30 years of age may see this as a form of exercise of the gene pool, which might not have thought of that before,''said Chapman.

The offer has also been affected by stricter laws governing risk assessments of genetic diseases and diseases.

In the state of New South Wales, the law also requires, since January this year, donors in Australia and abroad to be in a register kept by the health department in the same way you have information on the status Serological people.

New South Wales also has much stricter rules. In other states, each donor can provide for 10 families, but in New South Wales, from January, only five families (including those of the donor), can benefit. This demand has doubled.

Now there are only about 10 donors in New South Wales.

First Sydney fertility clinic has been importing semen from the United States over the past five years, gradually increasing its offer to between 70 and 80 percent.

The medical director of Fertility First, Anne Clark, said the Americans were far more altruistic than the Australians when it comes to sperm donation.