Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Indians have emerged as the largest ethnic group among the newly registered sperm donors in UK

LONDON: Indians have emerged as the largest ethnic group among the newly registered sperm donors in UK. Data with the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) - the independent regulator of fertility treatment in the UK shows that between 2009 and 2013, 52 Indians registered themselves to donate sperms in order to help childless couples across UK start a family.
The number is higher than all other ethnic groups living in UK.
For example, only 13 donors were of Pakistani origin, 34 were Irish, 17 were Chinese, around 26 were black Africans while the list did not have a single Bangladeshi donor.
A single donor scientifically can help 10 families. In UK, around one in seven couples have difficulty conceiving - numbering to 3.5 million people across the country.
Interestingly, the data also shows that more Indian women have come forward as egg donors than men who volunteered to donate sperms.
Around 57 Indian women registered themselves as egg donors but were actually second only to Black Africans - 74 in the list.
Around 26 Pakistani women have volunteered to be egg donors besides five Bangladeshi women and 29 Chinese women.
Britain recently witnessed its biggest baby boom in the last 40 years recording 48 new births every hour. The population was found to be growing by 1,150 a day. The birth rate has also been fuelled by migration, with growing number of babies being born to foreign-born parents.
HFEA says, "Three quarters of UK donors registered for their sperm to be used in treatment identified themselves as white British. In contrast to sperm donation, the number of women expressing an interest to donate eggs had increased and around half reported an increase in actual donations. In 2013 there were 1,103 new egg donor registrations, an increase on 2012 when there were 1,005 and 2011 when there were 815."
HFEA however says that the number of new donor registrations does not reflect the amount of donated sperm or eggs available for use. This is because each donor may specify the number of families (up to a maximum of 10) he or she is willing to help create.
Clinics now offer donors compensation for their service. For sperm donors the limit is a fixed sum of £35 per clinic visit including expenses, and for egg donors the limit is a fixed sum of £750 per cycle of donation, including expenses. The number of newly registered egg and sperm donors has increased over the last 10 years. The number of sperm donors increased in 2012, but decreased again in 2013. In 2013 there were 586 new sperm donor registrations compared with 631 in 2012, and 541 in 2011.
The latest data comes days after it was revealed that nearly 1 in every 3 children in UK was born to foreign mothers in 2014. The number of births has increased year on year too. There is 581,800 more zero to six year olds in mid-2012 than there were in mid-2001.
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