In the final episode of her ten-part investigation of the online sperm donor marketplace, Dr Aleks Krotoski looks for a way to make this network safe for the recipients, the donors, and ultimately, the donor-conceived children. The internet has

9. Who Guards the Guards?

Dec 9th, 2021 15m 9s

The online sperm donor marketplace operates across websites and social media, but most of the matches are made on Facebook Groups. Adam, ‘Kyle’ and Christina are three of the people in charge of the world’s biggest donor groups who spend their

8. The Tools We Use

Dec 8th, 2021 14m 34s

Beth Gardiner knew what the problem was with the online sperm donor marketplace - there was no community. People looking for sperm connected with people offering it on personals ads or email groups. There was no information - about fertility, a

7. Donor Unknown

Dec 7th, 2021 14m 58s

In the UK, any man who donates sperm through a licensed fertility clinic in the UK must waive his right to anonymity. Any children his donations produce can find out his identity when they turn 18.When this law passed in 2005, donor numbers dro

6. The Donors

Dec 6th, 2021 15m 15s

‘James’, ‘Kyle’, Adam and Tyree are sperm donors who advertise themselves on unregulated online donor exchanges. They are some of the more prolific donors on the scene - they have at least one hundred between them, but some of them likely have

5. Culture of Fear

Nov 29th, 2021 14m 52s

The online fertility marketplaces promise free access to sperm and the opportunity to include a donor in a child’s life from the beginning, but they come with dangers too. Women report harassment, sexually explicit messages and pressure for sex

4. Power Plays

Nov 29th, 2021 15m 10s

In 2014, a woman came to London to receive sperm from a donor she found online. Later, he was convicted in a criminal court on two counts of sexual abuse against her. In court, it was argued that the donor, a university professor and popular me

3. Red Lines

Nov 29th, 2021 14m 59s

Kim and Aaron have chosen James to be their donor. He’s exactly what they’re looking for - the physical features, the profession, and dozens of photographs of donor-conceived children on his Facebook profile page that prove he can get women pre

2. Boundaries

Nov 29th, 2021 15m 6s

Donor Alex has found a match with prospective parents MJ and Milo. He found their ad for a sperm donor on Facebook - they listed their needs and wants, hoping for someone to be involved in their child’s life. The trio have chatted on Facebook a

1. A Shadow Network

Nov 29th, 2021 15m 15s

It costs £1000 for a vial of sperm from a licensed sperm bank, and one vial rarely does the job. But is price the only reason people go to the online fertility marketplaces?For both Erika and Alex, knowing the other genetic half of their biolog