WOMEN are turning into online detectives to track down their sperm donors years before their kids are legally allowed to trace their biological parents, opening up a raft of legal issues.

The practice, known as “donor linking”, is gaining popularity as single women become the fastest-growing users of IVF in Australia.

With the help of dedicated electronic search engines and large online community forums, previously anonymous donors are being traced using information ranging from university graduation records and sports club memberships.

“Why I fathered 98 children”: A sperm donor explains his motivations. Courtesy: National Geographic “Why I fathered 98 children”: A sperm donor explains his motivations. Courtesy: National Geographic

Different laws across Australian states mean some women are able to contact donors through fertility clinics while their children are young by writing a note and hoping for a reply.

In Queensland, only donor-conceived children can access details when they turn 18.

But research on single mothers who used donor sperm has found a large number are not waiting until then, leading to calls for a central body to oversee the information and provide compulsory legal advice.

Dr Fiona Kelly of La Trobe University School of Law said she was “stunned” by the number of women she interviewed who had contacted donors while their child was still a minor.

media_camera Dr Fiona Kelly, of La Trobe University’s School of Law, was shocked to learn so many of the women she interviewed had contacted donors while their child was still a minor.

“There is a real lack of legal clarity around these issues,” she said. “But they are the fastest-growing user group of donor sperm, and this research shows the vast majority have attempted to locate the donor or donor’s family.

“One had a photograph that showed the man in his baseball club uniform and just went from there. The idea of anonymous is really questionable these days.

“All donors who had made contact reported a positive experience, but eventually one will go wrong.”

media_camera Monash IVF counsellor Antonia Lockitch says donors’ anonymity can’t be guaranteed, but nor can that of recipients.

Monash IVF counsellor Antonia Lockitch said she made it clear to clients, both donors and recipients, that lasting anonymity could no longer be guaranteed.

“I do have to make them aware,” she said. “The reality is, we have the internet that has things like facial recognition, and people can go on Facebook and search, so I think the reality is, kids are so smart and savvy, they might be able to easily identify their donor parent.”

One of the biggest online registries based in the US, Donor Sibling Registry, has more than 51,000 members and is updated every 24 hours.

The registry’s co-founder, Wendy Kramer, said she started the not-for-profit site in 2000.

Australians are among users from 105 countries who sign up and wait for the other side to join so they can meet.

“We feel that the age of 18 is arbitrary and have seen many families in Australia connect long before children turn 18,” Ms Kramer said.

“My own son connected with his donor when he was 15, and his first half-sister at 16.

“I am grateful that he had the opportunity to bond with his donor family before the age of 18.”

media_camera Prolific sperm donor John Mayger has helped create at least 18 children. Picture: Jonathan Ng

The process of finding the man and woman who helped a Sunshine Coast mother conceive her daughter is an amazing story of modern technology and a bit of luck.

The woman’s nine-year-old daughter has already met two half-siblings after the mother traced other children born to the same US sperm donor using his identity number via the Donor Sibling Registry.

The single mother is now considering using new DNA tracing to further narrow the search for the father. But tracking the woman who donated the egg proved easier.

With a date of birth and a strong hunch about the egg donor’s middle name, the mother got a hit on a US birth registry.

“Really, it was less than an hour and I had tracked her down,” she said.

The woman sent an online message to the egg donor and waited. The egg donor and the woman’s daughter have since been in contact.

“I chose donors who were anonymous but open, which means my child has the right to make contact when she is 18,” the mother said.

“But I don’t think we will wait until my daughter’s 18 to find the sperm donor. I could see us potentially trying that search within a year.”

Originally published as Mums track sperm donors online