Home · Guides · Last reviewed: July 2026
The problem this site is honest about
Informal (known-donor / peer-to-peer) sperm donation sits in an emerging area of parentage law. Many jurisdictions have clear rules for clinic ART and almost nothing public that cleanly answers: “If two private adults document at-home AI, is the sperm provider a legal parent for support and custody?”
Where this project cannot point to a clear published statute or leading case establishing a donor non-parentage safe harbor for informal arrangements, status badges show Unknown (now labeled Unknown — no clear public safe harbor).
What “Unknown” means
- Does mean: We have not found a clear, citable public rule that reliably excludes informal donors from parentage.
- Does not mean: Private donation is a crime (that is rare in jurisdictions we cover).
- Does not mean: Courts cannot eventually accept protective arguments, UPA-style analogies, or intent evidence.
- Does not mean: “Not researched” for every civil-code article worldwide—English-public and readily checkable sources are prioritized for the user base of this site.
What only litigation (or legislation) can do
Website drafting cannot manufacture a safe harbor that statute and case law have not yet created. In physician-oriented or clinic-only regimes, and in civil-law countries oriented to regulated ART, attorneys taking carefully framed arguments to court—or legislatures updating parentage codes—are how “Unknown” becomes “Recognized.”
This site’s role is to:
- Surface jurisdictions where statute already protects informal AI when conditions are met (e.g., modern UPA-style states);
- Mark physician/clinic gates honestly (e.g., classic UPA 1973-style wording);
- Refuse false certainty where primary sources are silent or clinic-only;
- Give attorneys and research tools citable starting points via black-letter boxes and
facts.json.
How to read related badges
| Badge | Practical reading |
|---|---|
| Recognized by Statute | There is a statutory pathway—still read definitions, conditions, and documentation duties. |
| Court precedent / Conditional | Outcomes turn on facts, orders, or narrow conditions; not a fill-in form. |
| Not Recognized | No identified informal safe harbor (often clinic-only statute or biology default). |
| Unknown — no clear public safe harbor | Insufficient public primary basis to claim recognition or a definitive ban on private arrangements. |
Priority regions for this project
English-speaking jurisdictions and Europe receive deeper treatment (black-letter summaries, machine-readable facts). That matches user demand; it is not a ranking of moral worth or family forms.
Related guides
- UPA versions & clinic/physician requirements
- Donor agreements & child support
- AI vs NI parentage
- facts-index.json (machine-readable priority list)