The moral complexity of sperm donation

Area of Science:

• Bioethics
• Family Law
• Reproductive Technology

Background:

• Sperm donation is common, with donors typically relinquishing parental rights and responsibilities.
• Contrasting societal views exist regarding sperm donors' and accidental fathers' parental responsibilities.
• Existing theories of parental responsibility do not adequately explain these differing intuitions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze prevalent theories of parental responsibility.
• To propose a novel theory of parental responsibility based on gamete control.
• To determine the parental responsibilities of sperm donors and accidental fathers.

Main Methods:

• Critical analysis of existing theories of parental responsibility.
• Development of a new theory grounded in the control of hazardous materials (gametes).
• Application of the new theory to sperm donation and accidental fatherhood scenarios.

Main Results:

• Prevalent theories of parental responsibility are found to be inadequate.
• The proposed gamete control theory challenges conventional assumptions.
• Neither the proposed nor existing theories fully support contrasting intuitions about sperm donors and accidental fathers.

Conclusions:

• Sperm donors should be considered fathers with parental responsibility.
• The view that parental responsibility can be easily transferred is questionable.
• Accidental fathers also bear parental responsibility, and the distinction between them and donors is not ethically justifiable based on current frameworks.