Users Beware: The Danger of Sperm Donation Apps & Websites

When choosing to start or grow their family using assisted reproductive technology (ART), intended parents spend countless hours on the details. As access to ART procedures grows, the choices available to intended parents become more complicated: whether to pursue home insemination or to use a fertility clinic, whether to use a known or anonymous donor for sperm or eggs, whether to pursue surrogacy and which clinic to use, and/or what legal steps they should take to secure their parental rights to their children.

However, these choices can be clouded by the promise of convenience. There are now dozens of social media pages and online apps offering to connect intended parents with prospective sperm and egg donors, surrogates, or even co-parents. Such apps promise people that they can swipe their way into parenthood. While these apps can be tempting, they are deeply concerning and pose a serious threat to intended parents, donors and surrogates.

It is unlikely that these apps verify prospective donors’ information.

For example, one app allows users to use a fake name and photo to interact with other users and to facilitate donations. Prospective sperm donors are often not required to go through donor screenings or medical testing, such as sperm analysis, health history assessments, testing for infectious diseases, or genetic screening. Donors may also not be required to report their donations to any state or health authority, avoiding local laws and regulations on sperm donation.

These apps lack any legal protections for intended parents, sperm donors and egg donors.

When sperm or eggs are donated by a known donor,  it is extremely important for intended parents and for donors to enter into known donor agreements. However, many prospective donors advertise in their profiles that they will only donate without such an agreement, or will refuse to donate if intended parents ask for one.

In almost every state, intended parents must conceive through non-sexual ART procedures to ensure that their known donor is not considered a legal parent to their child. However, an alarming number of prospective sperm donors advertise in their profiles that they exclusively donate through “NI” (natural insemination). Requiring sexual intercourse with intended parents is coercive and predatory; but even worse, it will almost certainly mean that the “sperm donor” will be considered a legal parent of any child conceived.

These apps are rife with predatory behavior.

Many online forums for single or LGBTQ+ intended parents host discussions about these apps, describing them as “horrific,” “creepy,” “gross,” and having to navigate through “serial donors” who were “using [them] as a way to get sex.” Many users said their prospective donors had a breeding fetish or wanted to use them for sexual fantasies.

These apps do not tailor responses or results based on users’ local laws and regulations.

Parental rights in the United States are governed by state laws and regulations. However, many apps promote harmful myths about using ART, known gamete donors, or surrogacy to conceive. These apps do not prompt users to check their state laws, but can instead spread misinformation. It is critical that everyone involved in conceiving a child – including intended parents, donors and surrogates – are aware of and informed about the legal ramifications involved.

While social media pages and online apps advertise themselves as a simpler way to start a family, they will likely lead to further complications. Intended parents who plan to use ART procedures to grow their family or to use donors to conceive their child – whether it will be a home insemination, a known donor, or using cryobanks and fertility clinics – should consult an attorney in their jurisdiction to understand their options to secure their parental rights.

Jerner Law Group, P.C. is proud to assist intended parents and prospective donors in Pennsylvania and New Jersey navigating these processes.