Two businessmen Nigel Woodforth 43 and Ricky Gage 49 face jail after being convicted of running an illegal fertility company. They made £250,000 by acting as 'sperm brokers' and intermediaries through their online operation Fertility 1st. The pair introduced would be donors to nearly 800 women who were desperate to conceive - who were charged over £500 for the privilege.
The men were reported to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) after one of their clients complained about their unprofessional standards.
Unlike any other introductory site, Fertility 1st directly paid sperm donors and charged women for the donations. They also kept the donors details anonymous as the women and the donors did not need to meet or exchange any personal details. Instead Fertility 1st arranged for the fresh sperm to be couriered to the recipients house for home insemination.
The sperm brokers claimed to have tested the sperm donors for infections such as HIV, but there could be no assurance that the tests where actually up to date, and that the donors had not had unprotected sex in the meantime, thus putting the health of these women as risk of infections such as HIV, hepatitis and syphilis. There was also no proof that the sperm was actually from the right donor.
Under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act, donors using licensed clinics are not the legal fathers of any child conceived. However they are classed as parents if the centre has no licence.
Without licensed treatment, a child does not have the legal guarantee that they would be able to find out who their father is later in life, nor can they access his genetic history.
The HFEA said: "Certain internet-based businesses claim to be merely an introductory service whereby recipients and donors are put in touch with one another and thereafter make their own arrangements. The HFEA is aware that some of these businesses, however, do not allow direct contact between recipient and donor. Under the act this is an element of procurement and therefore required to be licensed."
Websites who act as purely introduction services, allowing potential donors and recipients to meet, are not required to be licensed.
Unfortunately sperm brokers such as Fertility 1st do give a bad name to online connections services, many of which do help to bring people together in a positive way, enabling co-parenting arrangements and genuine donors who wish to stay in contact with any child. For example a lesbian couple being able to co-parent with a gay couple can have such a positive effect for the child's identity.
Pride Angel, the leading parenting connection site welcomes the decision of the court regarding 'Fertility 1st'. Erika Tranfield co-founder of Pride Angel stated 'the broker service that these businessmen provided went against everything we at Pride Angel believe in'. 'We want to provide our users with the ability to find co-parents, who will be part of the child's life and do not agree with anonymous donation. We are also committed to advising our users about the health screening risks and legal implications of any co-parenting or donor arrangement.'
'In addition to this, Pride Angel has a strict 'Code of Conduct' for our users to abide by' and sperm donors agree to use HFEA regulated clinics for treatment. All our profiles our continually monitored and reviewed. No mention of natural insemination is permitted. No mention of anonymous donation is allowed, donors must not request payment for donations and recipients must not offer money to donors. We also restrict messages sent between users to prevent any donors over contacting or harassing women, unlike any other connection service'.
Pride Angel agrees that women must take care when choosing to use a online connection service to find a donor or co-parent. Once any recipient finds a genuine donor, they are advised to check their full identification, get legal advice and donor agreements in place, before going to an HFEA regulated fertility clinic for treatment.
For more information about finding a known donor or co-parent visit www.prideangel.com