The rise in the number of single women seeking to have children via sperm donation has helped create one of the biggest sperm shortages New Zealand has faced since the banks began here in the 70s. RNZ reports that in , single women accounted for more than half of the babies born in New Zealand via sperm donation from fertility clinics. Times have changed since 10 years ago. Back then, fertility clinics say, it was mainly heterosexual couples struggling with fertility issues and same-sex couples who used donor sperm to conceive. Now, with a current month-to-two-year wait for sperm from fertility clinics, New Zealanders are exploring other avenues, using social media to create sperm-donor communities.
Inside New Zealand’s unregulated sperm donor network
Fertility Associates || About Sperm Donors
Melissa Maynard almost gave up on having children, then she found a sperm donor online. The two-bedroom flat in South Auckland's East Tamaki could rival a daycare centre: there's box-upon-box of brightly coloured toys and books, a Jolly Jumper and a bouncer complete with a clip-on activity table emblazoned with cartoon animals. But 6-month-old Emerson is more interested in his mum Melissa Maynard, He watches her closely as she explains all the kid's paraphernalia: "That's the joys of being the last in your friendship group to have a baby - you get all the great cast-offs. Only last year, Maynard, who works in finance at Auckland Museum, doubted she'd have children.
A US sperm donor, known only as 'Joe Donor' spends his time travelling the world and impregnating as many women as possible. He has told the 60 Minutes program it is his life's work, but critics say he is dangerous and has no place meeting with vulnerable women. Joe Donor claims to have already fathered more than children, to women all over the world, and his current destination is Australia. While here, Joe plans to impregnate 15 different women with his sperm and continue his widespread lineage, news. Joe told reporter Liz Hayes he had impregnated women aged from 20 to 40, but says he is under no illusions that these encounters will ever lead to love.
You can donate sperm or eggs to someone you know, or you can contact a fertility clinic to apply to be a donor for someone you don't know. If you're considering donating eggs or sperm, you should contact a fertility clinic to find out what's involved. Donors in NZ can't be paid. You'll usually be repaid for costs you incur during treatment — the fertility clinic will confirm what's covered. If you become a donor, you have to provide identity information to the fertility clinic, and this information will be included on the Human Assisted Reproductive Technology HART register if a child is born from your donation.