One of Australia’s most sought-after sperm donors has flown across the border to donate dozens of women locally.
Adam Hooper will fly from Western Australia until Brisbane this weekend to impregnate women desperate for a baby.
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 take payments for donations, travel, parking or medical expenses can be offset by its grateful recipients.
Dozens of hopeful mothers hope to meet the donor as an increasing number leave conventional clinics running out of semen samples.
Adam Hooper (pictured) travels from Western Australia to Brisbane this weekend to impregnate just a handful of the dozens of women desperate for a baby
Hooper is hopeful that his DIY tour could be the start of a close-knit mom group that can 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 a botched IVF treatment.
The 35-year-old told the courier post she initially 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 who want to have a baby.
After 82 online dates that came to nothing, Ms Stefaniw took matters into her own hands and flew to Perth to pick up a donation from Mr Hooper.
She said she felt “safe” in the knowledge that her child will be able to contact him, as the donor is giving his offspring the chance to contact him before they turn 18.
Hopeful moms who ovulate during 37-year-old’s 10-day visit get instant sperm donation in a cup
Conventionally, donor privacy is protected until children are of legal age, with their identifying information provided to state health registries.
Mr. Hooper, who has two of his own children and 20 donor-bred offspring, began donating his sperm to give others the gift of raising a child.
He said that unlike other donors, he was willing to be a part of the children’s lives and happy that they had a picture of him or would call him if they needed it.
“I want the kids to feel like they know where they’re coming from — too many donor kids have to spend years trying to track down their father,” he said.
The donor’s Facebook group is steadily attracting new members, with the majority of the group being single women between the ages of 30 and 40.
Greta French-Kennedy, a yoga teacher, hopes to conceive with a donation from Mr. Hooper after failing to conceive with a previous sperm donor.
The 37-year-old said the idea of being part of a mother group whose children shared the same father sounded “great.”
“I like the idea that the kid can contact Adam if they want to,” she said.
Mr Hooper said Ms French-Kennedy’s donation will likely have to be exchanged at the airport due to timing.
While it is illegal in Australia to pay donors for their sperm, travel, parking or medical expenses can be reimbursed by its grateful recipients
Other women who have not ovulated during the donor’s 10-day stay have expressed disappointment – with Mr Hooper to hold a seminar in Brisbane next weekend.
One woman said that while she wouldn’t benefit from the tour, she hoped it would spark more conversations about private donations in Queensland.
Another said it would be a “dream come true” if Mr. Hooper got it right.
“Imagine being in a mother group with the kids who are all related, what a wonderful concept,” she told the Courier Mail.
Experts warned that unregulated donations like Hooper’s would cause more women to go underground to receive life-changing sperm.
Mr Hooper’s Facebook group Sperm Donation Australia is steadily attracting new members, with the majority of the group being single women between the ages of 30 and 40
IVF Australia, in NSW, said healthy men between the ages of 21 and 45 who were willing to give sperm without payment were encouraged to give a sample.
Sperm Donors Australia said donor sperm was “extremely scarce” due to declining numbers of samples donated during the Covid-19 pandemic.
As the number of donors declined, the number of single women and same-sex couples competing for a sample increased, with clinics struggling to meet demand.
Virtus Health, Australia’s largest IVF provider, launched a campaign in May that it hoped would encourage sperm and egg donation.
Because there is no financial incentive for donors, many donate sperm or eggs because they have directly dealt with fertility problems.