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"Does sperm have a religion?"

("The Sydney Morning Herald," July 14, 2003)

It's not the physical attributes or medical history of sperm donors that worry many Indian couples opting for assisted reproduction.

Their main concern is religion, a report said yesterday.

Infertility specialists in the western city of Bombay said two in every 10 couples contemplating in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) insisted on knowing the religion of the donor, the Asian Age newspaper reported.

Gynaecologist Hrishikesh Pai said: "Recently a couple insisted the sperm be from a Catholic donor. After a lot of counselling, they agreed to a general donor. Muslims, too, are particular about the religion of the donor."

One couple from the Parsi community decided to remain childless after their request for a Parsi donor was turned down, the report said.

Another doctor, Nandita Palshetkar, said: "A Parsi man had a very low sperm count. He was adamant the donor be Parsi. We tried our best but they would not listen to us. The husband refused IVF for his wife, saying it was better not to have a baby."

Dr Pai said: "What is the religion of the sperm or egg? It's not possible to get donors of a particular caste or religion. Couples going for IVF must not be biased."

In one case, a Hindu vegetarian couple insisted the donor also be vegetarian, the report said.