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Monday Mar 26, 2007
Giving a toss
It's always good to see charities being rude and offensive, so my initial response to the Give A Toss campaign was positive. The fact is that they are trying to encourage men to wank in a cubicle - there's no point being shy about it. So, posters of women in tight T-shirts emblazoned with the legend "We want your sperm", spoof news videos and an (admittedly terrible) online game all seem appropriate enough.
However, a campaign like this needs to be backed up by facts. And that is where the site falls down. Badly. There is a short paragraph explaining that "the decision to donate can have far-reaching consequences" but nowhere on the site can I see mention of the fact that a law change in 2005 means that donors no longer have the right to anonymity.
That seems to me like a fairly crucial piece of information, and The National Gamete Donation Trust, the charity behind the Give A Toss campaign, should be up-front about it.
In fact, on reflection I even find myself sympathetic to the arguments of those who think the whole campaign is ill-conceived.
*Olivia Montuschi, of the Donor Conception Network, a group representing 1,000 families, said: "I was very shocked. This campaign appears to promote the image of a sperm donor as someone who is not hugely responsible - the very opposite of the image we would like to see portrayed.*
Quite why anyone, without anonymity, would wish to donate is another matter.
Posted by Tom Green ( 10:20 AM ) Link to this post Comments[1]
Thank you for posting about the campaign. There are many more facts a donor should know before he decides to donate so that's why it's stated on the facts page 'you should get as much advise as you can'.
Furthermore on every page is a link 'to find out more information about the gift of life...' and then clicks through to the NGDT site.
If a donor registers for more information they will get all the information available, the support of a national helpline and they can speak to a donor if they want to.
This site was created to get the attention and clearly it worked. Our other site has been up and running since 1999 and has never been mentioned by your organisation and indeed by many others. But someone who is truly interested in donating would have clicked on any of the links guiding it to the NGDT www.ngdt.co.uk and would have found out everything there is to know about donating sperm in the UK.
Donating eggs or sperm is one of the most rewarding things you can do in your life, but we are the first ones to also point out the long term consequences. Any donor going through a UK licensed clinic will be made aware of the full facts and receive appropriate counselling.
Regardless of how donors are recruited and what particular message made them pick up the phone, once they decide to donate they truly show they are responsible, dedicated and special. And in the end, that's what matters.
Posted by Laura Witjens on March 26, 2007 at 12:22 PM GMT+00:00 #