It is now easier for British women to select a sperm donor to father their child as the London Sperm Bank has just launched a Tinder-style smartphone app that would allow them to choose a sperm donor based on certain qualifications.
The "order a daddy" app allows women to browse for sperm donors, one of whom could potentially become the father of their child, by choosing those with particular physical characteristics such as those that relate to the height, weight as well as hair and eye color.
Women can likewise filter applicants based on the potential donor's nationality, educational level and occupation. They can also read details about the applicant's personality to see if this suits the characteristics that they want.
The applicants come from a range of professions which include finance, medicine, law, performing arts and engineering.
After picking a donor, women pay £950, or about 1,200 U.S. dollars, through the mobile app for a sample of the sperm, which will then be delivered to the clinic where they are treated.
If the ideal donor is not immediately available, users can opt to set up a wish list that will send an alert once someone with the desired attributes makes a sperm donation.
London Sperm Bank scientific director Kamal Ahuja said that the app provides privacy to women looking for a sperm donor. Ahuja said that the app, which legally meets the requirements of IVF regulator Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), also gives women the ability to choose and make decision in their own time.
"You make all the transactions online, like you do anything else these days," Ahuja said. "We think this is the first-of-its-kind in the world."
About half of the IVF clinics in Britain, which include private and NHS institutions, already registered to use the service.
Despite the privacy and conveniences offered by the app, it still does not free women from other challenges associated with having a child through in vitro fertilization. IVF treatments do not always result in live births, so women may have to make several attempts.
A 2015 study found that the rate of live births during the first cycle of IVF treatment was only a little over 29 percent. The study, which involved 156,947 from UK, showed that persistence is key to producing a child via in vitro fertilization. Researchers found that 65.3 percent of women successfully give birth after six IVF cycles.
