ThisisBigBrother.com - UK TV Forums - Sperm donors father huge 'families'; Experts worry could lead to incest

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Specialists warn over-reliance of one donor increases the risk of the transmission of genetic diseases and malformations, and some say there are dangers of inadvertent incest between half-siblings.

"We can't exclude the possibility that children of one donor can meet and have sex, and children, and indeed the possibility that the donor himself could have sex with his daughter," said Stevens, who has made films about his search for his real father and his half-siblings.

Juliet Guichon, a professor of bioethics at the University of Calgary, said involuntary incest with donor children happens more frequently than it might at first seem.

"People who seek sperm donation are from the same socio-economical status. They know each other, they are advised to see the same doctor, they live in the same neighborhood. It's not randomly distributed," she said.

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Now, there is growing concern among parents, donors and medical experts about potential negative consequences of having so many children fathered by the same donors, including the possibility that genes for rare diseases could be spread more widely through the population. Some experts are even calling attention to the increased odds of accidental incest between half sisters and half brothers, who often live close to one another.

“My daughter knows her donor’s number for this very reason,” said the mother of a teenager conceived via sperm donation in California who asked that her name be withheld to protect her daughter’s privacy. “She’s been in school with numerous kids who were born through donors. She’s had crushes on boys who are donor children. It’s become part of sex education” for her.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...ily-limit.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/06/he...pagewanted=all

http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle...could_lea.html

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