Don’t turn parents into criminals
The Supreme Court of Canada issued a long-awaited ruling on assisted reproduction on Wednesday. But regrettably, it did nothing to change the status quo in a key area:The federal government will continue its current criminal ban on paying sperm donors, egg donors and surrogates anything more than a strict reimbursement of their expenses.
This is unfortunate. Since the ban was implemented in 2004, infertile couples desperate for a child have continued to pay for the services of donors and surrogates.
But they’ve been forced to do so underground, lying to their doctors and facing the threat of incarceration.
Where it was once relatively easy to obtain donated sperm in Canada, the ban on paying donors has led to a severe shortage.
Last year, there were only 33 sperm donors for the entire country - nationalpost.com