Sperm donor campaign an ‘appalling use’ of public cash

Scottish Governmentfunded campaigns aimed at encouraging people to become sperm or egg donors have been branded an “appalling use” of public cash after attracting just 16 people.

A total of £185,518.44 was spent on three national campaigns in a bid to attract donors – whose eggs and sperm are used to help those struggling to conceive a child.

The first two campaigns, which ran from June to July 2021 and then in October to November 2022, attracted six men and ten women to come forward, figures revealed using freedom of information legislation show.

With the bill for the advertising campaigns in those two years alone said to be £135,999, the organisation Surrogacy Concern said that amounted to a cost of almost £8,500 per donor.

The group, which was set up to oppose any relaxation in the UK'S surrogacy laws, has now written to the government to highlight its concern that young people are being targeted in these type of campaigns.

Surrogacy Concern founder Helen Gibson said ministers should ditch any further campaigns to encourage egg and sperm donation.

Ms Gibson said: "We were horrified when we discovered the Scottish Government had spent over £135,999 of public money targeting women and men as young as 18 for their gametes in two campaigns in 2021 and 2022.

“We consider this to be an appalling use of public money.”

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “There is a shortage of egg and sperm donors across the UK and the Scottish Government, in partnership with NHS Scotland, launched the recent national donor gamete campaigns to help alleviate this shortage.”