{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,16]],"date-time":"2026-05-16T08:01:50Z","timestamp":1778918510855,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":34,"publisher":"Oxford University Press (OUP)","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2019,11,11]],"date-time":"2019-11-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1573430400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":10,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100004440","name":"Wellcome Trust","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["104385\/Z\/14\/Z"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["104385\/Z\/14\/Z"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100004440","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100004440","name":"Wellcome Trust","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["097857\/Z\/11\/Z"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["097857\/Z\/11\/Z"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100004440","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2019,11,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n               <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>STUDY QUESTION<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>How do the demographic characteristics, motivations, experiences and expectations of unregulated sperm donors (men donating sperm online through a connection website) compare to sperm donors in the regulated sector (men donating through a registered UK sperm bank)?<\/jats:p>\n               <\/jats:sec>\n               <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>SUMMARY ANSWER<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Online donors were more likely to be older, married and have children of their own than sperm bank donors, were more varied in their preferences and expectations of sperm donation, and had more concerns about being a sperm donor.<\/jats:p>\n               <\/jats:sec>\n               <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>While studies have examined motivations and experiences of both regulated sperm bank, and unregulated online sperm donors, no study has directly compared these two groups of donors.<\/jats:p>\n               <\/jats:sec>\n               <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>An email was sent to the 576 men who were registered sperm donors at the London Sperm Bank, the UK\u2019s largest sperm bank regulated by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), who had commenced donation between January 2010 and December 2016, and had consented to be contacted for research. The online survey, which contained multiple choice and open-ended questions, was completed by 168 men over a 7-week period. The responses were compared to those of sperm donors registered on Pride Angel, a large UK-based connection website for donors and recipients of sperm: our research team had already collected these data. In total, 5299 sperm donors were on Pride Angel at time of data capture and 400 men had completed a similar survey. The responses of 70 actual online sperm donors (i.e. those whose sperm had been used to conceive at least one child) were used for comparison with the sperm bank donors.<\/jats:p>\n               <\/jats:sec>\n               <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>PARTICIPANTS\/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>The survey obtained data on the sperm donors\u2019 demographic characteristics, motivations, experiences and expectations of sperm donation. Data from sperm bank donors were compared to online donors to examine differences between the two groups. The study compared online and clinic donors who had all been accepted as sperm donors: online donors who had been \u2018vetted\u2019 by recipients and sperm bank donors who had passed the rigorous screening criteria set by the clinic.<\/jats:p>\n               <\/jats:sec>\n               <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>A response rate of 29% was obtained from the sperm bank donors. Online donors were significantly older than sperm bank donors (mean\u2009\u00b1\u2009SD: 38.7\u2009\u00b1\u20098.4 versus 32.9\u2009\u00b1\u20096.8\u00a0years, respectively) and were more likely to have their own children (p\u2009&amp;lt;\u20090.001 for both characteristics). Both groups rated the motivation \u2018I want to help others\u2019 as very important. Online donors rated \u2018I don\u2019t want to have children myself\u2019, \u2018to have children\/procreate\u2019 and \u2018to enable others to enjoy parenting as I have myself\u2019 as more important than sperm bank donors, whereas sperm bank donors rated financial payment as more important than online donors, as well as confirmation of own fertility. Most (93.9%) online donors had donated their sperm elsewhere, through other connection sites, fertility clinics, sperm banks or friends and family, compared to only 2.4% of sperm bank donors (p\u2009&amp;lt;\u20090.001). There was a significant difference in how donors viewed their relationship to the child, with online donors much less likely than sperm bank donors to see their relationship as a \u2018genetic relationship only\u2019. Online donors had more concerns about being a donor (p\u2009&amp;lt;\u20090.001), for example, being concerned about \u2018legal uncertainty and child financial support\u2019 and \u2018future contact and uncertainty about relationship with donor-conceived child\u2019.<\/jats:p>\n               <\/jats:sec>\n               <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Findings may not be representative of all sperm donors as only one online connection site and one HFEA registered sperm bank were used for recruitment.<\/jats:p>\n               <\/jats:sec>\n               <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Despite concern regarding shortages of sperm donors in licensed clinics and unease regarding the growing popularity of unregulated connection websites, this is the first study to directly compare online and sperm bank donors. It highlights the importance of considering ways to incorporate unregulated online sperm donors into the regulated sector. With many online donors well aware of the legal risks they undertake when donating in the unregulated online market, this would both increase the number of sperm donors available at clinics but also provide legal protection and support for donors.<\/jats:p>\n               <\/jats:sec>\n               <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>STUDY FUNDING\/COMPETING INTEREST(S)<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>This study was supported by the Wellcome Trust Grants 104\u2009385\/Z\/14\/Z and 097857\/Z\/11\/Z. The authors have no conflicts of interest.<\/jats:p>\n               <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1093\/humrep\/dez173","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2019,7,28]],"date-time":"2019-07-28T23:06:19Z","timestamp":1564355179000},"page":"2208-2218","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":16,"title":["A comparison of the characteristics, motivations, preferences and expectations of men donating sperm online or through a sperm bank"],"prefix":"10.1093","volume":"34","author":[{"given":"S","family":"Graham","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Family Research, University of Cambridge, Free School Lane, Cambridge CB2 3RF, United Kingdom"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"T","family":"Freeman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Family Research, University of Cambridge, Free School Lane, Cambridge CB2 3RF, United Kingdom"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"V","family":"Jadva","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Family Research, University of Cambridge, Free School Lane, Cambridge CB2 3RF, United Kingdom"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"286","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2019,11,11]]},"reference":[{"key":"2019122311030737600_ref1","author":"Ahuja","year":"2011"},{"key":"2019122311030737600_ref2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"74","DOI":"10.1177\/0261018307085508","article-title":"The Uk\u2019s gamete donor \u2018crisis\u2019 \u2013 a critical analysis","volume":"28","author":"Blyth","year":"2008","journal-title":"Crit Soc Policy"},{"key":"2019122311030737600_ref3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"21","DOI":"10.3109\/14647273.2014.881561","article-title":"An inventory of reasons for sperm donation in formal versus informal settings","volume":"17","author":"Bossema","year":"2014","journal-title":"Hum Fertil"},{"key":"2019122311030737600_ref4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"71","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rbms.2015.10.001","article-title":"Emerging models for facilitating contact between people genetically related through donor conception: a preliminary analysis and discussion","volume":"1","author":"Crawshaw","year":"2016","journal-title":"Reproductive Biomedicine and Society Online"},{"key":"2019122311030737600_ref5","volume-title":"13th","author":"Crocker (2016).\u2019Super dad sperm donor has 800 children and becomes a father once a week\u2019","year":"2016"},{"key":"2019122311030737600_ref6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"971","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj.39206.514132.DB","article-title":"Number of sperm donors rises in UK despite removal of anonymity","volume":"334","author":"Day","year":"2007","journal-title":"BMJ"},{"key":"2019122311030737600_ref7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1670","DOI":"10.1093\/humrep\/deh839","article-title":"Short communication: previous semen donors and their views regarding the sharing of information with offspring","volume":"20","author":"Daniels","year":"2005","journal-title":"Hum Reprod"},{"key":"2019122311030737600_ref8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1145","DOI":"10.1177\/0038038510381607","article-title":"Conceiving and negotiating reproductive relationships: lesbians and gay men forming families with children","volume":"44","author":"Dempsey","year":"2010","journal-title":"Sociology"},{"key":"2019122311030737600_ref10","volume-title":"Regulating Reproductive Donation","author":"Freeman","year":"2016."},{"key":"2019122311030737600_ref9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2082","DOI":"10.1093\/humrep\/dew166","article-title":"Online sperm donation: a survey of the dempgraphic characteristics, motivations, preferences and experiences of sperm donors on a connection website","volume":"31","author":"Freeman","year":"2016","journal-title":"Hum Reprod"},{"key":"2019122311030737600_ref11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1675","DOI":"10.1093\/humrep\/dem061","article-title":"UK gamete donor\u2019s reflections on the removal of anonymity: implications for recruitment","volume":"22","author":"Frith","year":"2007","journal-title":"Hum Reprod"},{"key":"2019122311030737600_ref12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"582","DOI":"10.1093\/humrep\/dev331","article-title":"Does age of the sperm donor influence live birth outcome in assisted reproduction?","volume":"31","author":"Ghuman","year":"2016","journal-title":"Hum Reprod"},{"key":"2019122311030737600_ref13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"338","DOI":"10.1111\/famp.12029","article-title":"Donor, dad, or \u2026 ? Young adults with lesbian parents' experiences with known donors","volume":"52","author":"Goldberg","year":"2013","journal-title":"Fam Process"},{"key":"2019122311030737600_ref14","volume-title":"Regulating Reproductive Donation","author":"Graham","year":"2016."},{"key":"2019122311030737600_ref15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"13","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rbms.2017.02.001","article-title":"Using an introduction website to start a family: implications for users and health practitioners","volume":"4","author":"Harper","year":"2017","journal-title":"Reproductive Biomedicine and Society Online"},{"key":"2019122311030737600_ref16","volume-title":"Disclosure of Donor Information. Regulations","author":"HFEA","year":"2004."},{"key":"2019122311030737600_ref17","first-page":"2012","volume-title":"Egg and sperm donation in the UK","author":"HFEA","year":"2013"},{"key":"2019122311030737600_ref18","volume-title":"Using donated sperm, eggs or embryos in you treatment","author":"HFEA","year":"2014"},{"key":"2019122311030737600_ref19","author":"HFEA","year":"2018"},{"key":"2019122311030737600_ref20","author":"HFEA","year":"2019"},{"key":"2019122311030737600_ref21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"112","DOI":"10.1080\/14647273.2017.1315460","article-title":"Why search for a sperm donor online? The experiences of searching for and contacting sperm donors on the internet","volume":"21","author":"Jadva","year":"2018","journal-title":"Hum Fertil"},{"key":"2019122311030737600_ref22","first-page":"571","article-title":"Experiences and motives of Australian single mothers by choice who make early contact with their donor\u2019s relatives","volume":"24","author":"Kelly","year":"2017","journal-title":"Med Law Rev"},{"key":"2019122311030737600_ref23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"731","DOI":"10.1093\/humrep\/deu027","article-title":"Gamete donors\u2019 expectations and experiences of contact with their donor offspring","volume":"29","author":"Kirkman","year":"2014","journal-title":"Hum Reprod"},{"issue":"09","key":"2019122311030737600_ref24","first-page":"2018.","article-title":"\u2018UK\u2019s national sperm bank stops recruiting donors\u2019, BBC News, 27 October 2016","volume":"24","author":"Lea","year":"2016","journal-title":"Last accessed"},{"key":"2019122311030737600_ref25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"162","DOI":"10.1080\/13648470.2014.914806","article-title":"Beyond motivation: on what it means to be a sperm donor in Denmark","volume":"21","author":"Mohr","year":"2014","journal-title":"Anthropol Med"},{"key":"2019122311030737600_ref26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1842","DOI":"10.1093\/oxfordjournals.humrep.a019604","article-title":"The internal coherence of donor insemination practice: attracting the right type of donor without paying","volume":"12","author":"Pennings","year":"1997","journal-title":"Hum Reprod"},{"key":"2019122311030737600_ref27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"522","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rbmo.2016.07.004","article-title":"Creating a family through connection websites and events: ethical and social issues","volume":"33","author":"Ravelingien","year":"2016","journal-title":"Reprod Biomed Online"},{"key":"2019122311030737600_ref27a","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"226","DOI":"10.5172\/hesr.451.17.3.226","article-title":"Lesbian mothers, gay sperm donors, and community: Ensuring the wellbeing of children and families","volume":"17","author":"Riggs","year":"2008","journal-title":"Health Sociology Review"},{"key":"2019122311030737600_ref27b","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"266","DOI":"10.1093\/humrep\/deq314","article-title":"Characteristics of men willing to act as sperm donors in the context of identity-release legislation","volume":"26","author":"Riggs","year":"2011","journal-title":"Human Reproduction"},{"key":"2019122311030737600_ref28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"37","DOI":"10.1093\/humupd\/dms039","article-title":"A systematic review of sperm donors: demographic characteristics, attitudes, motives and experiences of the process of sperm donation","volume":"19","author":"Van den Broeck","year":"2013","journal-title":"Hum Reprod Update"},{"key":"2019122311030737600_ref29","volume-title":"Regulating Reproductive Donation","author":"Wilkinson","year":"2016."},{"key":"2019122311030737600_ref30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"723","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rbmo.2017.08.023","article-title":"Online sperm donors: the impact of family, friends, personality and risk perception on behaviour","volume":"35","author":"Whyte","year":"2017","journal-title":"Reprod Biomed Online"},{"key":"2019122311030737600_ref31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3","DOI":"10.1080\/02646838.2018.1540864","article-title":"Clinical vs exclusively online sperm donors: what\u2019s the difference?","volume":"37","author":"Whyte","year":"2019","journal-title":"J Reprod Infant Psychol"},{"key":"2019122311030737600_ref32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"424","DOI":"10.1080\/13548506.2015.1081702","article-title":"What motivates men to offer sperm donation via the internet?","volume":"21","author":"Woestenburg","year":"2016","journal-title":"Psychol Health Med"}],"container-title":["Human Reproduction"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"http:\/\/academic.oup.com\/humrep\/article-pdf\/34\/11\/2208\/31206538\/dez173.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"syndication"},{"URL":"http:\/\/academic.oup.com\/humrep\/article-pdf\/34\/11\/2208\/31206538\/dez173.pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2019,12,23]],"date-time":"2019-12-23T11:47:55Z","timestamp":1577101675000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/humrep\/article\/34\/11\/2208\/5613885"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2019,11,1]]},"references-count":34,"journal-issue":{"issue":"11","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2019,11,11]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2019,11,1]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1093\/humrep\/dez173","relation":{},"ISSN":["0268-1161","1460-2350"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0268-1161","type":"print"},{"value":"1460-2350","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published-other":{"date-parts":[[2019,11]]},"published":{"date-parts":[[2019,11,1]]}}}