Attitudes and characteristics of artificial insemination donors

Includes bibliographical references (pages 27-28)This study was undertaken to investigate the donors\ud who participate in artificial insemination using donor\ud semen. Thirty-nine questionnaires completed by men who had\ud donated semen between January, 1981 and January, 1982 were\ud collected from three fertility clinics in the Los Angeles\ud area. A non-donor sample was collected by matching the\ud donors subject for subject on age and occupation.\ud The questionnaires included demographic data on age,\ud education, occupation, religious preference, political\ud stance, parents' education and parents' occupation.\ud Additional questions pertained to the respondents' attitudes\ud about birth control, abortion, and artificial insemination.\ud The primary reason given for donating was money. \ud These individuals, giving this as their primary reason,\ud were found to be less in favor of donors having access to\ud the AID child produced from his sperm and less in favor\ud of the AID child having the right to discover the identity\ud of its biological father. They were also less accepting\ud of gay people having the right to adopt.\ud Forty-one percent of the donors stated they had\ud second thoughts about donating. The mothers of the donors\ud who had second thoughts were found to have lower occupational\ud status ratings than the mothers of the donors who\ud had no second thoughts. Significantly fewer of the donors\ud who had second thoughts about donating had informed their\ud friends of their donation.\ud Donors were compared to the non-donor sample and found\ud to differ in attitudes only. Donors were significantly\ud more accepting of abortion upon demand and access of birth\ud control for single people. Donors were more accepting of\ud AID availability to single women and AID availability to\ud women of different ethnic or racial characteristics from\ud the donor.\ud Donors were significantly more pleased than non-donors\ud with the idea that they may conceive a child through AID\ud and were more eager to know if they fathered a child\ud through AID. Donors were significantly less upset at the\ud thought of meeting an AID child who bore them a striking\ud resemblance than non-donors thought they might be