The government is expected to make an announcement soon on its public consultation on donor anonymity.

Some fertility experts fear it will include new legislation allowing children of sperm donation to trace their biological fathers.

They warn the move could scare off potential donors when there is already a shortage.

Do you think children should be allowed to find out about their biological fathers? If you are a parent who has used sperm donation, have you told your child?

Some of your respondents seem to regard donors as people who go around "fathering" children irresponsibly. Have I missed something here? Surely, people are asked to donate, in order to help others. Anonymity is key to this process, and removing it will do much more harm than good. To begin with, why should anyone agree to donate?
Barry, Peterborough, UK

If anonymity is removed I expect this will set a precedent that ALL children should be able to know their actual parents. When the national DNA database becomes available it will probably be a right for anyone to go and check who their real biological parents were. Some people could be in for a surprise.
Chris Q, Bradford, England

My two children were both conceived by sperm donation as part of fertility treatment as my husband and I were unable to conceive any other way. My husband is the father of our children - he gets up in the night for them, he goes out to work to support them, he is there to pick them up when they cry ... In short, he is their father. Grateful as we are to the donor who gave us the chance to have these children he is not and never can be a father to our children.
Anon, UK

Currently, there is a law that says sperm donated by donors cannot be used in the creation of more than 10 children, due to the possibility of people accidentally marrying close relatives. If no anonymity was given in any case, we could scrap that rule, as children would all know who their half-siblings are. As a typical ejaculation contains many millions of sperm cells, we would then need fewer donors, meaning it wouldn't matter if a few people stopped donating sperm due to being denied anonymity.
Graeme Phillips, Berlin, Germany (normally UK)

The PC brigade obviously fail to see the irony. Most of these children will never get to find who their father is anyway (if anonymity is taken away) - because they won't have been born in the first place!
Jerome, Toronto, formerly London

Nothing good starts with a big lie E Telfer, Hexham, England

Children should know about their genetic and family history, they have no say in the decision to be born. 'Parents' do have a say in whether or not to undergo treatment to create a pregnancy for their own reasons so their 'rights' are secondary. Knowing who you are and who your real ancestors are is a basic human need that may have its key importance at any time in the life span of a human being and pretending it is not is lying to oneself and the child. Nothing good starts with a big lie.
E Telfer, Hexham, England

I think fathers should have no right to anonymity - children should have a right to know their parents, full stop.
Vikrham Singh, London

I think it is vital for a person to know both of their parents. I speak from experience as I was raised by my father virtually from birth and had no contact with my mother until my late 20s. Until that point I felt as if half of my personality was missing. I didn't know who I was because I didn't know where I came from. This is not an uncommon feeling.
Anya, London

Allowing children to know the identity of their fathers, if conceived with donated sperm is, I think, a bad idea. Inevitably, it will lead to those children making financial demands on the donors - you are supposed to financially support your children, after all. It is a fear of this happening that will drive men away from donating sperm. Think about it: years after you donate, a child turns up on your doorstep and the next thing you know you're paying tuition fees and living costs until they're 21. Also, how would this affect the real family you might have - the one you set up with a wife?
Richard Lindsay, Glasgow

There is no reason why children born by sperm donation need to know about it, and I for one believe it is better to keep it secret and let the child grow up in a loving family.
Carol, England

What if the father has a genetic disease or a genetic disposition to certain conditions? These could be caught if the father's identity is known and preventative measures could be taken. Certainly the father should not be considered to be the child's guardian or next of kin. But at least if the authorities know who he is that knowledge might be able to save that child's life.
Simon Brown, UK

When a woman chooses to conceive vis-a-vis artificial insemination, she makes the conscious and informed decision that the child will grow up without knowing his or her biological father. The child's right to know his/her father is, in this way, determined by the mother who, by going through with the procedure, abdicates the child's rights to have their biological father in their lives. The donor owes nothing besides his medical history information to be made accessible to the child. The emotional effects of growing up as a product of this procedure can't be made the responsibility of the male who is, after all, not conscripting himself to the role of a father, but that of a service provider. This isn't to say that the procedure itself is morally questionable. Only, to place the burden of having to potentially sort out a messy father-child reunion with the requisite blame, guilt, etc, though it may make a good made-for-TV-movie--is, it seems to me, unethical.
Sofia Zubritsky, Oxford, UK

To give someone the gift of life is an amazing thing but to have a child come knocking on your door in ten or twenty years time claiming to be your biological child is enough to deter most men from donating sperm Ken, Staffordshire

I think it's appalling that the government should even consider removing the anonymity of the donor. I've donated blood, I've taken part in clinical trials for new drugs and I've even donated bone marrow and it's all been on the strict understanding that it is done anonymously. The day that anonymity is removed is the day I stop donating. To give someone the gift of life is an amazing thing but to have a child come knocking on your door in ten or twenty years time claiming to be your biological child is enough to deter most men from donating sperm, it's certainly enough to deter me from doing it. And who are the people who will suffer most from this? The childless couples who desperately want children but are unable to do so through no fault of their own.
Ken, Staffordshire

I think sperm donors should lose their ability to maintain their anonymity. The donors are creating human beings with emotions and a brain. If someone is prepared to become a donor they must be prepared to accept the responsibility that goes with it. It is not responsible to donate sperm and forget about the consequences. It shows that the donors are mature adults that have thought deeply about the consequences of their actions.
John Snowdon, Stafford

Were I young enough still to be a sperm donor, my worry would be financial liability. Child Support and inheritance issues could intrude if anonymity is lost.
Chris, London, UK

Surely the onus is on the donor as to whether or not they wish to be identified in the future. What do we have next the compulsory identification of bone marrow donors when they don't wish to be etc.etc. What happened to privacy?
Peter Curry, Dunfermline Scotland

The key word here is FATHER. Sperm donors are not the fathers of these children. The father is the mother's partner. If the mum had had an affair she wouldn't have been legally obliged to give up the name of the man who got her pregnant. This is insane and as long as we have access to sperm donors' medical history there needs to be no more information.
Christine, UK

Having been a sperm donor as a student (20years ago) if I had not expected continuing anonymity I would never have donated!
Karl McKillop, London

I used donor insemination when my partner and I couldn't have children. The only reason we went for it was because of the anonymity of it. I conceived but later lost the pregnancy. If I had had a child we would have bought it up not knowing that its father wasn't my partner. It isn't the biological that makes a father, it's the man who is prepared to be 'daddy' to the child that matters. My relationship broke down and I am now remarried and have a child naturally with my husband.
cck, uk

Of course this is a terrible idea. David Mercier, Kent

Of course this is a terrible idea. Once a father is named it will be only a matter of time before they are being pestered for benefits and support for the child which goes against the whole idea of donating it.
David Mercier, Kent, UK

It is a basic human right to know one's parentage. Also, if they plan on having children themselves they should find out because it is more than conceivable that incestuous relationships could be formed without intention.
Elizabth Maidment, Bromborough, Merseyside

I think that changing the law for new donations is reasonable. And if it leads to a huge drop in donations then it can be changed back again. However, it shouldn't be a retroactive change - if donors have been promised anonymity in the past then that promise should be honoured.
John C. Kirk, London

What about the rights of the donor, or the feelings of the parents. This is yet another case of political correctness gone mad. When will our government and the P.C. brigade begin to use their common sense. The Swedish system offers the best way forward.
Mark Thurkettle, Plymouth England

I've not been involved in sperm donation, but I was adopted at birth. I have never had any desire to trace my biological parents, although I do have that right. I can see this from both sides. As a sperm donor, I would absolutely not want my biological offspring to knock on my door years later. But as a person who doesn't know his real parents, I can sympathise with those who have the urge to find out.
Stuart, Newcastle, Staffs

This will scare a lot of people from donating - what about legal claims on the natural father such as support or inheritance? Donating sperm does not make you a father. Bringing up a child does.
Tom Duggan, Leeds, UK

I am a woman who is about to undergo IVF with donor eggs and I plan to be completely open with any resulting children. I'm having the treatment in Spain (because there are no waiting lists, the success rates are higher and it's cheaper) but unfortunately they have no plans to remove anonymity from donors - so sadly, any children I have may never get the chance to learn about their biological ancestry.

I hope that the removal of donor anonymity does not deter people from becoming egg or sperm donors. There is already a shortage of donor eggs in this country because women who donate eggs are only given �15 in expenses which is ridiculous considering they have to undergo complex drug regimes for at least a month and medical treatments to harvest the eggs.
Penny Unwin, London

What is paramount here, the need for a child to know his biological parent who simply attended a clinic for 10 minutes, or the wishes of the parents who longed for a child and did everything they could to create one? Fiona, Dorset

As an ex-nurse who used to work in a fertility clinic, I really can't see that any such legislation would benefit anyone. Adopted children feel the need to know their biological parents because sometimes they need to know the circumstances surrounding their conception - was it a loving relationship or a one-night stand, for instance, and why was the decision made to give the child up for adoption.... many questions that need to be answered. In the case of sperm donation, the circumstances of the conception are known, and the reason for the donation probably altruistic.

The parents of children born through sperm donation often choose physical characteristics such as eye colour, hair colour, build etc, that best match the husband. This indicates that the parents are planning to bring up the child under the impression that their "dad" is indeed their biological one. What is paramount here, the need for a child to know his biological parent who simply attended a clinic for 10 minutes, or the wishes of the parents who longed for a child and did everything they could to create one?
Fiona, Dorset, UK

If this crazy idea goes ahead, then if I were considering donating sperm (and I have witnessed the heartache of those who need such donations), then I would immediately kill the idea stone dead. If I were in my early twenties, I would not wish to have a stranger turn up in my life twenty years later having me explain to my wife of 20, 15, or 10 years that I had helped a stranger before meeting her (especially if we had not yet had kids of our own). Imagine trying to explain ...
Phil, Milton Keynes, England

I was thinking about sperm donation, before I get a vasectomy, to help people unfortunate enough not to be able to have their own kids. Absolutely no chance of me donating now which I think illustrates the point on shortages.

To me a sperm is irrelevant and the emotional rights of the donor, their children and partner should be taken into account. If I choose to donate to help childless couples, I should have the right to choose to be anonymous.
Richard, Edinburgh

As a woman with a child, who has considered egg donation (donating my eggs anonymously), I would not donate eggs if I felt the resulting child may one day turn up on my doorstep. The only reason for tracing parents I can see would be for medical records - and this could still be handled anonymously. I feel very strongly that anyone who gave donations of sperm under the understanding that it was an anonymous act should not find the rules change now and affect there lives.
Naomi, UK

I think if people wish to use artificial insemination they have to accept the side effect, which is they will never know who the biological father is. Removing the anonymity of the donor will deter most potential donors and so will prevent most people from using it in the first place.
David Cross, Birmingham

If the rules are to be changed regarding donation, fine, but it is wholly unfair to apply them retrospectively by removing the right to anonymity for past sperm donors. That's simply unfair. Also, another question, how many times may one man's sperm have been used for fertility treatment? Is some poor guy going to discover he has 150 children? I can imagine that causing major problems, a secretary would be required just to issue the birthday cards.
Felix Adams, Teignmouth, UK

This will discourage men from donating their sperm. Most, who are students, do it not for altruistic but financial gain. Such gain would be outweighed by the potential trauma and even legal implications if a child decided to track down the biological father. Sperm donation will plummet. This smacks of a feminist agenda with no thought to the misery it will cause to childless couples who cannot get the sperm they need.
Andrew Crawley, London, UK

As a student back in the mid-80s, I was an occasional sperm donor. At that time we were guaranteed that our anonymity would be maintained for all time. Now I find out that I could have my progeny banging on the door and wanting to find out about 'daddy'. Well I'm sorry, but they're going to get pretty short shrift out of me - "I don't know you, I don't want to know you. You are nothing to do with me. I did it for the money, which I spent down the pub. Now goodbye."
Mike, Brighton

No, sperm donors does not make a father. The person loving and nurturing you, makes your parent.
Michael Coetzee, FIFE, Scotland

Given the advertised shortage of sperm donors, I enquired about giving some years ago: I was already deterred by the existing bureaucracy - having to get my WIFE to attend for AIDS counselling, whether or not my HIV test turned out positive! The new requirement is obviously an increased deterrent. On extrapolation of current government thinking of children's' rights, it would seem a short step to requiring paternity support and inheritance rights.
Graham Houston, London, UK

It's not a case of what the parents want, eventually the child will grow up wanting to know their parentage. Adopted children have a need to know, why not sperm donated children. It's not just a case of parenthood, but genetics as well, and that is important. The system that we have now is not without its flaws, and if fathers donate abroad, how are doctors able to keep track of every single donor and future mother without chances of cross breeding. What happens in the distant future when step-brother or step-sister interbreed without any knowledge of their full background and 'murphy's law' says this will eventually happen.
Jay Garrett, Barking, Essex

I have been through several cycles of fertility treatment and both my partner and I have refused to donate our embryos should we not use them, because we fear law changes will mean the child will be able to trace it's biological parents in the future. We could not face the possibility of remaining childless ourselves and at some stage being contacted by our biological child that was born to another couple.
Paula Cottle, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom

This isn't like having a single child adopted. A sperm donor may be the biological father to up to 10 children. How much stress would it put on a relationship the donor is in some 18 or more years later to have children turning up every few years. Like many a donor, I wouldn't have taken part in the scheme had it not been anonymous. To remove anonymity now is an outrage. Anonymity means anonymity, not anonymity-until-we-decide-otherwise.
Anonymous, Manchester

There may be occasions where a child needs that information . But what of the effect on the non biological father who has raised a child with love and then finds himself put aside for the "real" father. Also what of a doners family. How are they to adapt to a new sibling. This could be a counselling time bomb with emotional fallout every where.
A Nimick, Leeds Yorkshire

Children must be allowed to find out about their biological fathers.
Tina Hamer, Gillingham Kent England

I do not think sperm donors should be identified. This is the reason a lot of people use sperm donation instead of adoption as there is not the "risk" of your child going off to find it's "real" father. This could tear families apart and to what purpose? The man who brings the child up is the father in every real sense so why risk that for men who can never have a child any other way.
Rochelle, Falkirk, Scotland

I regularly give blood. If it was not anonymous, I would stop. End of story. If someone I saved by donation, no matter what the reason, turned up on my doorstep I would be furious. I don't give blood to be praised, to be a hero, or in order to take on other peoples problems. I do it in order to do good, in the hope that I help others. Anonymously. I'm sure that sperm donors past and present have much the same reasons.
Anthony Hunt, Madstone, Kent, UK

A child's father is the man who raises the child, the partner of the child's mother, the man who laughs and cries and plays with the child. A father is certainly not an individual who supplies a few cells to fertilise an egg. No one suffers from not knowing their biological father - that is just PC baloney. Ones father is the one who loves and cares on a daily basis.
Mark Smithard, Horsham, England