The drought Australia isn’t talking about enough: sperm
Contracts, clinics and shady Facebook groups — this panel untangles the complicated web of donor-sperm conception in Australia, where would-be parents are facing a drought they never saw coming.
Solo parents, queer couples and people experiencing fertility issues know the path to parenthood often comes with extra steps. Today, finding donor sperm has become a high-stakes scavenger hunt.
As Australian fertility clinics scramble to meet demand, the search for sperm becomes an unexpectedly intimate chapter in the story of forming a family. Some navigate year-long clinic waitlists. Others sift through overseas profiles or have delicate conversations with friends. And some, like our moderator Edwina Storie, find themselves trawling unexpected corners of Facebook.
Bringing together lived experience, this panel unswaddles the messy truth of modern conception — from awkward donor conversations and legal grey zones to financial burdens, cultural complexities and what donor-conceived people wish their parents knew. Join Melanie Saward, Alisha Burns, Maeve Marsden and Edwina Storie for an eye-opening conversation about what it really takes to make a baby today.
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