Rights and obligations of sperm donors

On 1 July 2018, the Sperm Donor Registry Act - the law regulating the right to know the parentage in the case of heterologous use of semen - came into force. But what does it mean for sperm donors? Find out everything about your rights and obligations as a donor here.

Do I have to pay maintenance as a sperm donor?

No. According to the Sperm Donor Register Act, the judicial determination of the legal paternity of the sperm donor is excluded:

"If the child has been conceived by medically assisted artificial insemination in a health care facility within the meaning of section 1a number 9 of the Transplantation Act using heterologous semen provided by the donor to a collection facility within the meaning of section 2(1) sentence 1 of the Semen Donor Registry Act, the sperm donor cannot be established as the father of that child", section 1600d(4) of the Civil Code.

This exempts the sperm donor in particular from claims in the area of custody, maintenance, and inheritance law.

Will I remain anonymous as a sperm donor?

Generally, sperm donation in Germany is not anonymous. Intended parents and the donor remain unknown to each other. The donor waives all information concerning the specific use of his sperm samples and receives no information about the identity or number of children conceived with the help of his sperm or their parents. Donors are not given the opportunity to approach the intended parents or a child conceived by them. Parents also have no possibility of approaching the donor. Only the conceived child has the right to know its own parentage, and thus, only the child has the possibility to find out the identity of the donor after the age of 16.

Since 1 July 2018, the TFP Sperm Bank has been required, under the Sperm Donor Register Act, to forward information about the identity of the sperm donor to the German Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM) after the conception of a child. No later than three months after the birth of a child as a result of donor sperm treatment, the recipient of the sperm donation is legally obliged to inform the attending doctors about the birth. The data of the mother, the child, and the donor are stored at BfArM for 100 years under the highest data protection precautions.

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Would you like to know what other legal conditions apply to couples wishing to have children before donating sperm? You can find more information about this under legal situation for parents.

Contact for sperm donors

Even the first step into our practise should be as easy and convenient as possible for you. You have options for arranging an initial consultation as a sperm donor.