I just read about a case in Germany wherein a man donated sperm to a lesbian couple with a signed agreement that it wouldn't cause him financial hardship. He is now being sued for child support.It occurs to me that this kind of going-on will substantially reduce the pool of willing donors. I propose a method for eliminating the ability to easily prove that a particular man is the father of a child.Qualify a large pool of possible donors. Mix their sperm well and choose some at random to use to fertilize the egg. While a DNA test can prove reasonably conclusively that a particular man was the donor getting DNA from so many participants will be so cumbersome as to render such lawsuits all but impossible.-- Voice, Mar 05 2011 Nice idea but danger of STD. I knew of a person who collected jamjars from all their male acquaintances, unlabelled, mixed them up, and picked one at random.-- pocmloc, Mar 05 2011 <visions of all those swimmers in a milkshake mixer> ...works for me... [+]-- Grogster, Mar 05 2011 "getting DNA from so many participants will be so cumbersome as to render such lawsuits all but impossible"
I think you underestimate the vindictive nature of the kind of person or organisation who would pursue this kind of lawsuit.
Also, it is the intention of the UK govt. (and probably many others) to create a DNA database which includes everyone.
The kind of lawsuit you refer to is one of the reasons why I will never be a sperm donor (that and the vasectomy).-- Twizz, Mar 07 2011 Why do they call them *donors* anyway? Don't they get paid for the service?-- xandram, Mar 07 2011 New meaning to the phrase "It takes a village..."-- RayfordSteele, Mar 07 2011 Hmm, might start a growth industry in the legal field: the reverse class action paternity suit. In which the plaintif is an individual and the defendant is a class of people.-- mouseposture, Mar 08 2011 //Also, it is the intention of the UK govt. to create a DNA database which includes everyone// - in your fantasy world, maybe.-- hippo, Mar 09 2011 Once upon a time, long ago, I sat an exam question that began "Pale Joseph and his dark-skinned lover Leroy are at a party..." and ended with two lesbians - names now forgotten - heading upstairs with a yoghurt pot containing a mixture of PJ and DSL's gametes, a turkey baster, and every intention of motherhood. The question was "how do we find out who the daddy is?". The correct answer - 25 marks worth! - was a statutorily-mandated DNA test. This applies in respect of the UK only, I'll grant that, but if getting the test is straightforward, you will need to have a massive pool of donors.
And unless you're proposing that the sperm donation organisation humph suitably chilled fertilizer buckets around grind joints, frat houses, saunas and underpasses, waving crispy copies of mucky books and offering each loser and misfit $$ for the right to catch, goaltenderlike, their ejaculate in yr bucket, I don't see how you'll be able to generate a sufficiently large number of donors to make lawsuits impracticable. And given donees are likely to be the sort who would also want to ensure that the stock (in the farming sense) was of good quality, you're maybe a wee bit buggered on the marketability of your mixed megabucket low-roller hobo spunk.-- calum, Mar 09 2011 //Also, it is the intention of the UK govt. to create a DNA database which includes everyone// - in your fantasy world, maybe. — hippo, Mar 09 2011
More a nightmare scenario than a fantasy.-- Twizz, Mar 09 2011 //mixed megabucket low-roller hobo spunk.//
I stand in awe. Calum, your well phrased rant makes me want to have your babies.-- MikeD, Mar 09 2011 Identical twin donors?-- nineteenthly, Mar 09 2011 Identical twins have different mitochondrial DNA, I believe.-- hippo, Mar 09 2011 //each loser and misfit // Hmm! Earning your living by coming into a bucket every now and again sounds like a splendid career choice compared to a lifetime of digging coal at the bottom of a large and very dark hole in the ground. So I think that your scenario sounds like a bit of a winner, frankly, calum! There might be a rather dramatic excess of supply over demand, I admit, but it's worth a try I reckon! //a signed agreement that it wouldn't cause him financial hardship. He is now being sued for child support// Depending on his income and the value of the child support, this isn't necessarily in breach of his agreement. He should have spent some of his sperm money on hiring a better lawyer I reckon.-- DrBob, Mar 09 2011 Would you have to put "mixed megabucket low-roller hobo spunk" on the birth certificate?-- hippo, Mar 09 2011 //Identical twins have different mitochondrial DNA, I believe.//
Mitochondrial DNA doesn't mutate often enough for that to be generally true.
But actually, that's irrelevant, since mitochondrial DNA is maternally inherited.
So nineteenthly's suggestion seems to be a good one to me.-- Loris, Mar 09 2011 Nuke all sperm of people with an IQ less than 140.-- travbm, Oct 29 2015 random, halfbakery