Majority in our poll against sperm donations from the dead

A majority in our poll have voted against sperm donations from dead men becoming available.

The Journal of Medical Ethics, claims that opt-in post-death donations could be a way of increasing available stocks. There is a growing shortage of sperm donation around the country because of strict regulations.

In 2017, 2,345 babies in the UK were born after a sperm donation. But some people have raised ethical concerns about consent and anonymity.

So we asked in our Facebook poll: “Do you think sperm should be added to the list of human tissue that can be donated after death?”

At the time of writing, 650 people had voted with 34% saying yes, 66% no. Here are some of the comments we received.

Elaine Mansell is clearly agauinst the idea. She said: “Enough children now without parents.”

Rachel Mavin also had misgivings, saying: “Think that's taking it a bit too far. I'm all for organ donation, but this I'm not so sure.”

Anthony Joseph Johnson, who isn’t keen either, said: “The idea of organ donation is that is saves a person's life. If a woman receives sperm as a donation from some mystery deceased donor, why would that be necessary?”

Lisa Ball asked: “Most people die old. Would the sperm be of good quality? What about family medical issues? I don’t actually know what to think about this. First thoughts were NO. Too far. Then maybe. I just don’t know to be honest.”