The decision of a regional appeals court in Hamm, Germany that the children of sperm donors have the right to know who their fathers are could have a wider impact – some 100,000 children in Germany were born to sperm donors.
For people who cannot have children, sperm banks can be a big help. Germany has 14 sperm banks, where women who want to have children can potentially realize their wishes, with the sperm of a healthy man. Until now, the anonymity of sperm donors was guaranteed most of the time.
The decision to tell children born to sperm donors who their biological father are often lies with the parents. Some parents tell their children at a young age, others wait until adolescence, and others never tell their children. But even if the parents are forthcoming about how their children were conceived, the children cannot find out who the biological father is most of the time.