“Heartbreak mums facing a baby crisis over low sperm levels” was the headline in the Mirror, a London tabloid. According to figures supplied by the British Fertility Society, there is such a shortfall of sperm donors in the UK that women are being forced to go overseas to fertility clinics or to resort to mail-order fresh sperm. The Society says that UK clinics require 500 sperm donors to service their patients, but at present there are only 400. Supply has shrunk since the recent abolition of donor anonymity.

Dr Pacey is aghast at the use of fresh sperm because there are no guarantees that it is free of HIV or other STDs. “These fresh sperm delivery services just full me with horror,” he told the London Telegraph. “There is no way on earth that they can guarantee they are infection free when they do not quarantine sperm at all.”

The UK’s fertility regulator, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority is now considering allowing payment for sperm to overcome the shortage. ~ London Telegraph, Jan 22