What are the legal issues of using a sperm source you know vs. using donor sperm?

What are the legal issues of using a sperm source you know vs. using donor sperm?

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Jill Trainer, MSW, LCSW  
Patient Navigator, Division of Fertility Preservation 
Oncofertility Consortium 
Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University

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The difference between using a sperm source that you know if you’re an unmarried couple is that you do have to enter a legal agreement, and that those embryos are still owned by the both of you. As opposed to a woman who decides to use donor sperm, those embryos are owned purely by her. There’s no one else to consult. And that has been a big legal issue because if you decide to use a boyfriend’s sperm and you break up, there’s no court in the country that’s going to force him to be a father. So you have to make those decisions prior to your procedure. You have to decide what would happen. And actually, every couple needs to decide that what should happen if one patient is deceased, who owns those embryos? So, it can become a big legal issue. But when a woman uses donor sperm to create embryos, then those are just her embryos and no one else is consulted about them.