(Quebec) Christian Dubé calls for the intervention of Public Health to better regulate artisanal sperm donation, after the revelations of Noovo Info on serial sperm donors. The families of these children must be informed quickly, he said.
The Minister of Health asked the national director of public health, Dr Luc Boileau, to provide him with an opinion to identify “solutions” after the revelations of Noovo Info in the documentary series Father of 100 children. In particular, we learn that three men from the same family are the fathers of more than 600 children. Some have developed genetic diseases.
According to Noovo Info, the donations were made in an artisanal way thanks to advertisements on the web and through an assisted procreation clinic, Procrea.
“It’s a public health issue,” said Minister Christian Dubé on Tuesday in Quebec. “You have to put yourself in the shoes of these parents, these families. This same person may have contributed more than 100 times. […] It is still a fairly important issue. I understand the questions of people who didn’t know that,” he added, referring to unknown family ties.
Mr. Dubé did not want to discuss the ways at his disposal to better regulate artisanal sperm donation. “We have to look at it more broadly,” he said.
I asked the Dr Boileau to see what our reaction could be. A regulatory reaction or I don’t know. I have a lot of confidence in the Dr Boileau, he’s going to come to us with something.
Christian Dubé, Minister of Health
In an interview with Noovo Info, Dr Boileau indicated that Public Health is seeking to reduce the risks associated with artisanal sperm donations, in particular to set a maximum number of donations per person. Work is underway with Health Canada experts.
With Tommy Chouinard and Charles Lecavalier, The Press