Maybe it's time for free online contracts

It costs a lot of money to have an agreement drawn up. And it's hard for laypeople to do on their own. Should governments help out?

Sperm donation has changed a lot over the years. For a long time it was a sort of storefront business, with private doctors brokering the arrangements. Then came the industrial-strength formality of sperm banks. But as you all know, these days there's a fair amount of direct-to-consumer activity via the internet.

In that last scenario, the person with the sperm is dealing directly with the person who wants it. There is no middle man. There is often no counselling, no up-to-date infectious disease testing and no legal advice. Sometimes there is no contract either, or when there is one, it might be a cut-and-paste job cobbled together with hope.

Continuing to murmur about the risks may not be the best option. I'm starting to wonder if we should recognize that it is happening and will continue to happen and be more pragmatic about it.

Isn't it time we offered unbiased plain-language information online, along with a free template contract?