Donor sperm kids just as healthy as naturally conceived children

CHILDREN conceived from donor sperm are as physically, emotionally and mentally healthy as their naturally conceived peers once they reach school age, a new study has found.

KIDS conceived from donor sperm are as physically, emotionally and mentally healthy as their naturally conceived peers once they reach school age, the largest study of its kind has found.

Murdoch Childrens Research Institute researchers say, given the number of births from donor conception has more than doubled in Victorian since 2010, the findings should give parents reassurance.

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“Women and couples who are choosing donors put a lot of thought and effort selecting them,” said lead author Professor David Amor.

“The IVF services put a lot of effort into recruiting donors. The information the recipient gets about the donor is fairly minimal. There’s some general health screening, but we don’t know if these men are representational of the general population.

“Given IVF is undergoing a bit of a renaissance in terms of the demand, these findings should be reassuring for parents.”

A Murdoch Children’s Research Institute study into sperm donor-conceived children is the largest of its kind. Picture: iStock

Mothers of 224 Victorian donor-conceived children now aged 5-11 completed a questionnaire of health and wellbeing, mental health, child development, autism risk, healthcare needs, family functioning and their own wellbeing.

The study found that donor-conceived children had significantly higher special health needs than the general population, which Prof Amor said may be explained by the parents of donor-conceived children being more vigilant.

It also found that the type of family structure did not appear to influence the health of the children, but the families with a donor-conceived child were a better-functioning unit.

The findings were published today in the journal Reproductive BioMedicine Online.

The team is now looking at donor-conceived children who are now in their own child-bearing years.

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