Australia's gay community is helping to increase the availability of domestic donor sperm, according to one of the country's lead fertility groups.

The Fertility Society of Australia has released statistics showing that the majority of sperm donors are from men based in the United States.

But its vice president, Professor Michael Chapman, said a campaign targeting gay men has yielded promising results.

''Over the last 12 to 18 months we've actually been able to include a lot more Australian donors, to the point our waiting list was in the order of two years... and now it's down to two or three months,'' he said.

The shortfall was largely the result of legislative changes, which give children the right to know the identity of their biological parents.

The legislation came into effect around five years ago and gives children the right to find out the identity of their biological parents once they turn 18.

''There was a time in the last three or four years where the numbers of couples being treated with donor sperm declined because of the lack of Australian sperm donors,'' Professor Chapman said.

''That has been to some extent pushed back by the capacity to import sperm under very strict control from the United States.

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''There are many people who would give sperm in altruistic manner but the potential for the conflict within 18 years' time has put them right off ever thinking about donating sperm.''

The donation campaign largely hinged on the hope that gay men would be more willing to provide sperm because their personal situation may not be as complicated as that of a heterosexual man should their biological child decide to contact them in future years.

The organisation Access Australia is a support group for people who experience difficulty conceiving or carrying a child.

Its CEO Sandra Dill believes same-sex couples are also helping to break down the negative stigma surrounding the use of sperm donors and the various forms of fertility treatment.

''If you keep a secret even with the very best intentions within families, this is a train-wreck coming down a track," she said.

''Because the obvious question is, 'Well why didn't you tell me? What's wrong with it? 'What is so shameful that you couldn't share this?'

"And you contrast this with circumstances where children know, in the case of same-sex female couples, the circumstances around their conception and they know that has nothing to do with how they're valued, loved or nurtured or even children born through IVF and it's just part of their story.

"You know, it's part of who they are, part of their identity.''