1st Erlanger Symposium on Family Education with Donor Seeds.
It promised to be an extraordinary event – where else would you get your conference materials in a jute bag, printed with a sperm in an ice cube („on the rocks“) handed out? 1st Erlanger Symposium on Family Education with Donor Seeds. The topic of sperm donation was hotly debated in society. So, on November 22nd and 23rd 2013, all the relevant social groups in Germany met for the first time: sperm bank employees (including the team from the Berlin Sperm Bank), medical professionals, reproductive biologists, therapists, lawyers and politicians offered expert insights into the complex topic. However, a special feature of the conference was the extensive representation of civil society actors, including sperm donors, their biological offspring (represented by the association Spenderkinder e. V.) and parents who have used sperm donations. This provided an opportunity for cross-disciplinary mutual exchange of knowledge. The highlights of the multifaceted lectures and debates included the panel discussion with family therapist Dr. Petra Thorn. She explained the positive contribution that the early disclosure of donor children about their origins can have on their personality development. This prevents serious psychological consequences, such as identity breakdowns in donor children. An open approach to the topic can interrupt the negative dynamics that still surround sperm donation as a family secret. Stina, early 30s, herself a donor child of an anonymous donor and representative of the Donor Children e. V., calls for exactly this open approach in the affected families. She expects, however, in particular from politics, doctors and sperm banks, a different and legally secure approach to people with the same origin story: a central donor register, as is naturally the case in adoption, is also demanded, as well as the disclosure of donor identities of those who donated anonymously before the legislative reform. The state donor register is also one of them.
Key demands of the DI-Netz e. V., which represents the interests of donor-child parents. Ulrich Simon, a psychology graduate and social father of donor children himself, outlined the complex field of affected families. In addition to the aforementioned register, the general exemption of sperm donors (regarding inheritance, maintenance/training payments) is also demanded, as are limits on the number of offspring per donor to a maximum of 10 children. Financial support for recipient couples and sanction mechanisms in the event of the disclosure of donor data are also important aspects of the association’s agenda. The panel discussion led by Dr. Hammel with two active donors from the Erlanger Samenbank shed light on the darkness of donor life. This was the first time in Germany that the group of sperm donors was given a face and voice at an event on reproductive medicine. Federal Minister of Justice Ms. Brigitte Zypries, in her keynote speech, explained a passage from the new coalition agreement regarding additions and improvements to the legal status of the children’s rights of donor children. In doing so, she referred to the following wording: „We will regulate the child’s right to know their origin in the case of sperm donations by law.” (2013, Shaping Germany’s Future: Coalition Agreement between the CDU, CSU and SPD, 18th legislative term; p. 99). „The three critical ‚Us‘ (documents, care, maintenance)“
The topics of the lecture by Ms. Prof. em. Dr. Dagmar Coester-Waltjen, who is a jurist specializing in family law and is familiar with the issue for decades, were the focus of the presentation. The main focus was on the concept of „anonymity“ of the sperm donor in German family law. The goal of the lecture was to identify possible reform approaches in German descent law that could be based on the related legal institution of adoption. Rainbow family formation through sperm donations is the focus of the work of Dr. Lisa Green, a psychologist and representative of the Lesben- und Schwulenverband in Deutschland e.V. She is the mother of two donor children and the co-mother of another donor child. She is a strong advocate for the early identification of children who were created in rainbow families through sperm donations. She emphasizes the special need for early intervention in rainbow families in order to provide children with the tools they need to cope with everyday life (especially when faced with hostility from other children).
Unlike Spenderkinder e. V. and DI-Netz e. V., however, she holds the opinion that donor children do not necessarily need access to detailed biological origin data. Finally, Walter Merricks, co-founder of the English parent initiative Donor Conception Network, presented the legal regulations regarding sperm donation in Great Britain. He began his presentation with the words „I am going to make
“You’re going to make me jealous„ (“I’m going to make you jealous„). In 2005, the Parents“ Initiative managed to enforce a ban on anonymous sperm donations and a national donor database that could be used to find not only the donor’s data but also the data of half-siblings. For Merricks, knowledge about the creation of children through sperm donation is „private but not secret“ – through this approach, it is possible to de-taboo the concept of sperm donation and thus – in the best sense – normalize it.
The team at the Berlin Seed Bank thanks the organizers of the diverse symposium and will incorporate the new insights gained into their daily work, so that new impulses can be generated in direct interaction with donors and recipient pairs.
(https://www.pthorn.de/)