One of Australia’s most in-demand sperm donors has flown interstate to donate to dozens of local women.
Adam Hooper will depart Western Australia to Brisbane this weekend to impregnate women desperate to have babies.
Hopeful moms who ovulate during the 37-year-old’s 10-day visit will receive an immediate sperm donation in a cup.
While it is illegal in Australia to accept payment for donations, travel, parking or medical expenses can be reimbursed by its grateful recipients.
Dozens of hopeful mothers are hoping they will meet the donor as more leave conventional clinics that are running out of sperm samples.
Adam Hooper (pictured) is set to travel to Brisbane from Western Australia this weekend to help impregnate just a handful of the dozens of women dying to have a baby
Mr. Hooper has high hopes that his DIY tour could be the start of a close-knit mother group who will be able to bond through their children’s shared DNA.
Ingrid Stefaniw, from Brisbane, is 12 weeks pregnant with Mr Hooper’s baby after spending $13,000 on an unsuccessful IVF treatment.
That said the 35-year-old courier post She first connected with the donor through his Facebook page, Sperm Donation Australia.
The group has more than 1,500 members and matches sperm donors with singles or couples hoping for a baby.
After 82 online appointments that meant nothing, Ms Stefaniw took matters into her own hands and flew to Perth to collect a donation from Mr Hooper.
She said she feels “safe” in the knowledge that her child can contact him because the donor gives his offspring the opportunity to contact him before they turn 18.
Hopeful moms who ovulate during the 37-year-old’s 10-day visit will receive an immediate sperm donation in a cup
Traditionally, donor privacy is protected until the children come of age, with their identification details being shared with government health registries.
Mr. Hooper, who has two children of his own and 20 offspring fathered by donors, began donating his sperm to give others the gift of raising a child.
He said unlike other donors, he is willing to be a part of the children’s lives and happy that they have a photo of him or call him if they need it.
“I want the kids to know where they’re coming from — too many donor kids have to spend years tracking down their fathers,” he said.
The donor’s Facebook group is constantly attracting new members, with the majority of the group being single women in their 30s and 40s.
Greta French-Kennedy, a yoga teacher, is hoping to conceive with a donation from Mr Hooper after not getting pregnant with a previous sperm donor.
The 37-year-old said the idea of being part of a mothers’ group whose children share the same father sounds “amazing”.
“I love the idea that the kid can contact Adam if they want to,” she said.
Mr Hooper said Ms French-Kennedy’s donation would likely have to be exchanged at the airport due to time constraints.
While it is illegal in Australia for donors to be paid for their sperm, travel, parking or medical expenses can be reimbursed by its grateful recipients
Other women who did not ovulate during the donor’s 10-day stay have expressed disappointment – with Mr Hooper, who is due to hold a seminar in Brisbane next weekend.
One woman said while she would not benefit from the tour, she hoped it would stimulate more conversation about private giving in Queensland.
Another said it would be a “dream come true” if things worked out with Mr. Hooper.
“Imagine you were in a mothers group with the kids who are all related, what a lovely concept,” she told the Courier Mail.
Experts warned that unregulated donations like Mr Hooper’s would result in more women going underground to receive life-changing sperm.
Mr Hooper’s Sperm Donation Australia Facebook group is constantly attracting new members, with the majority of the group being single women in their 30s and 40s
IVF Australia in NSW said healthy men between the ages of 21 and 45 who were willing to donate sperm without payment were encouraged to donate a sample.
Sperm Donors Australia said donor sperm was “extremely scarce” due to a dwindling number of samples donated during the Covid-19 pandemic.
As the number of donors dwindled, so did the number of single women and same-sex couples vying for a sample, with clinics struggling to meet demand.
Virtus Health, Australia’s largest IVF provider, launched a campaign in May it hoped would encourage sperm and egg donation.
Since there is no financial incentive for donors, many donate sperm or eggs because they are directly affected by fertility problems.
