Attitudes of parents of young children to sperm donation--implications for donor recruitment.

An anonymous questionnaire was circulated to parents of young children to survey exposure to publicity about and attitudes to sperm donation (n = 192 couples; 50% response rate). Of those surveyed, 55% of men and women had seen or heard of the need for sperm donors; for 26% of couples, one or both partners had considered donation, and among half of those (13% of total) no objections to donating were raised. However, only two men had approached the clinic as donors. Objections to donation centred mainly on discomfort at having children outside their family, worry about future contact with donor insemination children, and worry about incest. Women were three times as likely to raise these objections as men. Of all respondents, 20% thought a donor should be used for only one recipient couple, while 50% suggested three or fewer families. Overall, 41% rated having non-identifying information about the recipient couple(s) as an important aspect of sperm donation, although only 9% of men and 17% of women considered personal contact important. While many people are aware of and receptive to the idea of being donors, very few act. Many would prefer that their spermatozoa were used for only one or a few couples about whom they had some information.