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If you're a would-be Canadian parent with a patriotic bent and you're looking for help conceiving, there could be cause for concern. That's because there's a shortage in this country — of Canadian sperm.
Toronto-based fertility doctor Alfonso Del Valle, of Repro Med — The Toronto Institute for Reproductive Medicine, says the majority of donated sperm in Canada is imported from the U.S., due in part to a hypocrisy in the system that discourages sperm donation in this country.
He says that somewhere between 5 and 10 per cent of donated sperm used in this country is from Canadian donors.
In the U.S., sperm donors are paid for their services. But in Canada, the Assisted Human Reproduction Act — passed in 2004 — made it illegal to pay donors in this country.
(The full interview is available using this link. The following portions have been edited for clarity and length.)
if the American system seems to be working, why don't we just pay Canadian men to make sperm donations?
With the experience that we've had since the inception of the act in...