Sperm Donors and the Law: Who Is Your Child's Legal Parent?

Sperm Donors and the Law: Who Is Your Child’s Legal Parent?

By Hannah OvertonPublished 24 September 2026Last reviewed 21 September 202612 mins read11 sections

Part of: How to apply for Parental Responsibility

A sperm donor who donates through a licensed UK clinic is not the legal parent of a child born from his donation. A donor in a private arrangement often is. The route you choose, and your relationship on the day of treatment, decide who your child’s legal parents are (Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008, s.41).

Legal parenthood also affects who holds parental responsibility, so it pays to settle it before you start. If you plan to donate to someone you know, the same rules decide whether you become a legal father. This guide covers the law in England and Wales only.

Reviewed by: Iblal Iqbal, Partner & Family Law Strategist, Kabir Family Law

Is a sperm donor the legal parent in the UK?

It depends on how conception happens. The woman who carries the child is the legal mother from birth, wherever treatment took place (2008 Act, s.33). For the donor, it turns on the route.

At a licensed clinic, the donor gives written consent before the clinic uses his sperm, so the law does not treat him as the father. The regulator confirms he will not appear on the birth certificate, have any say in your child’s upbringing or need to support the child (HFEA).

Outside a clinic, that protection falls away. The consent rule only covers sperm used in licensed treatment, so a private donor can be the legal father, with all the duties that brings.

These rules only cover artificial insemination and embryo transfer (s.35(1)). If conception happens through sex, the Act’s donor rules do not apply, and the donor is treated like any other biological father.

Licensed clinic or private sperm donor: why does the route matter?

A private route can look simpler and cheaper. However, the route and your relationship status together decide who the parents are.

Clinics also screen donors for infections and cap how many families each donor helps. A private donor has no such checks or limits (HFEA). If a surrogate will carry the baby, different rules apply: see our guide to surrogacy agreements.

Who is the second legal parent?

Spouses and civil partners count automatically. If you have a wife, husband or civil partner at the time of treatment, they become the second parent, unless the evidence shows they did not consent (s.35, s.42).

Unmarried couples face a stricter test. Your partner becomes a parent only if you had treatment at a licensed clinic in the UK and you both gave signed, written notices before treatment (s.36, s.37).

The birth mother signs the regulator’s WP form, and the partner signs the PP form. You cannot fill them in after treatment, and either of you can withdraw consent until treatment starts (HFEA). The same applies when a friend donates through the clinic.

Mistakes here are not rare. In 2015, a High Court judgment recorded that 51 of 109 licensed clinics found problems in their records, such as missing, late or wrongly completed forms (Re A and others [2015] EWHC 2602 (Fam), para 6). The families in that case had to go to court to put it right.

Being a legal parent is also not the same as holding parental responsibility. For example, a second female parent who is not the mother’s wife or civil partner gains it by birth registration, agreement or court order (Children Act 1989, s.4ZA).

Does a sperm donor have any right to see the child?

That depends on whether he is a legal parent. A donor who is the legal father can apply to the family court about contact without asking permission first (Children Act 1989, s.10(4)).

A clinic donor is not a parent, so he needs the court’s permission first. So does a private donor where your spouse or civil partner is the second parent.

In deciding permission, a court looks at what he wants, his connection with the child and any risk of disrupting the child’s life (s.10(9)). If the case goes ahead, the child’s welfare comes first (s.1(1)).

So a known donor who has spent time with your child may have a stronger link to rely on. That is why the role you agree at the start matters.

Our guide to same-sex parents’ rights explains how these rules play out for two-mum and two-dad families.

Are sperm donor agreements legally binding?

No. A written donor or co-parenting agreement is not legally binding, and it cannot stop a donor from being the legal father, even if the mother agrees (HFEA). Parental responsibility cannot be handed over or given up by agreement either (Children Act 1989, s.2(9)).

So why do families still write one down? Because it records what everyone meant at the start: the donor’s role, any contact, and what you will tell your child. Still, if a dispute reaches court, the judge decides on the child’s welfare, whatever the paper says.

An agreement cannot settle money either. If the donor is the legal father, the child maintenance rules can apply to him, because they cover anyone who is in law the child’s mother or father (Child Support Act 1991, s.54). A term that tries to stop a maintenance calculation is void (s.9(4)).

Can a donor-conceived child find out who the donor is?

Yes, if the donor gave his sperm at a UK clinic on or after 1 April 2005. What your family can learn then depends on your child’s age (HFEA; 1990 Act, s.31ZA).

1. After the birth. As parents, you can ask the regulator for details that do not identify the donor, such as his height and medical history.
2. At 16. Your child can ask whether they are donor-conceived and, if so, for the same kind of details.
3. At 18. They can ask for his name, date of birth and last known address. The first people conceived under these rules turned 18 in October 2023.

A private arrangement does not appear on the regulator’s donor register. If a donor you know stops keeping in touch, your child may have no way to trace him later. Home DNA tests can also link people to a donor, whichever route you used.

What if the birth certificate names the wrong parent?

Your partner should only go on the birth certificate if they are a legal parent (HFEA). For an unmarried female couple, that means treatment together at a licensed UK clinic and a parenthood agreement. Even then, you must register the birth together or bring a signed declaration or court document (GOV.UK).

When the forms were missing or wrong, the second parent may need to ask the court for a declaration of parentage (Family Law Act 1986, s.55A).

In general, you can apply to change the recorded father if you can prove he is not the natural father, for example with a DNA test or a court order (GOV.UK). With donor sperm, a DNA test does not settle it. The law can treat a husband as the father even though the donor is the biological one, so take advice before you apply. Our guides to removing a name from a birth certificate and adding a father to a birth certificate explain both processes.

Using a sperm donor in the UK: are your plans on track?

Use this quick check before treatment or insemination. It is not a legal test and cannot tell you who the parents will be.

Frequently asked questions

General information about the law in England and Wales, not advice on your circumstances.

Expert Tip

Families often come to us after the birth, when a registrar or a school asks a question they cannot answer. By then, what happened before treatment has already fixed who the parents are. If you and your partner have not married, ask the clinic for copies of both consent forms before treatment begins. With a known donor, agree his role in writing and take advice first, because paper alone does not change the law.

Hannah Overton, Complex Children Specialist & Client Support