Genetic Defects in Sperm Banks: Rigorous Screening Process but Lack of Genetic Testing Raises Concerns

Genetic defects are the biggest problem when it comes to sperm banks. The greening process that a donor must go through is intentionally designed to be rigorous and exclude any donor that does not meet the high standards. Surprisingly, only one percent of donors are actually accepted nationally. The screening process involves a health questionnaire, physical exam, medical and infectious disease testing, a thorough sperm quality evaluation, and several in-person interviews with staff at the sperm bank.

Repeated physical exams and disease testing are ongoing while the donors are active, which means that the donors must maintain a healthy diet and stay active. Although he sperm bank goes through the screening process, they fail to test for genetic diseases because of the cost. A donor will be asked about any genetic diseases, but to save three hundred dollars, a donor will not be tested for genetic diseases. This is a problem because a child that is born could wind up with a heart problem that was not mentioned in the donor's profile.

If a couple has no warning that there is a genetic defect, they could be very upset due to the suffering and the cost of medical bills. Sperm banks overall could just charge more money for a couple to go through the process and spend he three hundred dollars to have the sperm sample go through the genetic defect testing, to save the heartache of couples that have no idea their child will have a medical problem. Sperm banks create a problem of unknown relative production because most of the time a couple is not aware of who the donor is.

Order custom essay Genetic Defects in Sperm Banks: Rigorous Screening Process but Lack of Genetic Testing Raises Concerns with free plagiarism report

450+ experts on 30 subjects Starting from 3 hours delivery

Get Essay Help

Therefore, the donor could be a cousin or family member of the woman that is accepting the sample. Inbreeding results in increased genetic disorders, lower birth rates, higher infant mortality, slower growth rate, smaller adult size, and loss of immune system function. Because a couple is not aware that the sperm sample could be a family member, they would be very surprised if any defects came from the implantation. Lack of diversity in the breeding pool is cause by a woman trying to pick out the best sperm. When a woman goes about the donating process, she has traits for a baby picked out.

So if a woman or a group of women continuously pick out the same sperm for one particle man, there will be no diversity in society. Half of the traits will be the same in several children. Donor children eventually producing their own offspring is a major concern also. A woman is also allowed to pick several samples from the same donors in order to have two or three children with the same man. This is going to be a problem because a donor may not have enough samples to appease the quantity the woman or group of women are asking for.

So there needs to be a common balance between how many samples from one man are being given out to prevent the breeding pool from being the same. Psychological issues between the family of the child and the donor of the child are bound to abrupt. Currently, the sperm donor is protected by a luaus that is legally binding that allows the donor to show no legal rights if he does not want to. These social issues arise when the donor child grows and begins to understand how they were conceived.

Questions such as who is my father, do I have any siblings, and what is my medical history will eventually come about. This may cause a problem between the family, if they feel as though the child is theirs and not the donors. Jealously could even be a problem if the dad doesn't feel like the biological father. There is also an added concern that the child may never want to find the biological father. The process of sperm donation is very emotional for the family as well. Infants can be sweet and cute, but how will the parents react if there is unforeseen behavior or medical problems?

There is always an underlying concern that those problems can arise. A sperm donor could come across issues within his own family if he were to have kids, especially if the donor child was to find out. It would make the donor child feel unwanted and would definitely have a psychological impact on him/her. Overall, the sperm bank process can be very time consuming and costly. Some women may not take the first sample the first time, so they must have a few more samples before getting pregnant.

If it takes years to get pregnant, a woman may just give up. The average cost of going through this process is close to ten thousand dollars. Not only is there a set fee, but if a woman wants certain traits or has to get more samples the bill is just getting much bigger. A family must be prepared for the cost and the waiting process of using a sperm bank. Ultimately, there are several things that can go wrong physically, mentally, ND socially; however, there is one story about a Louisiana man being taken to court due to a sperm bank's mistake.

An ex-girlfriend intentionally tricked the sperm bank into giving her the man's sperm sample, and then took him to court to receive child support on the child. Who's to say that the sperm bank has not done this several times without it coming out in the open? Maybe a certain bank is not as secretive and is telling the identity of the donors, or not testing the donors properly? Overall, the donor and the couple would really eve to trust the sperm bank that they were doing business with.

Don't let plagiarism ruin your grade

Run a free check or have your essay done for you

Check my essay Hire Writer