1. Gregg Wiatt was stunned. On his 28th birthday-six months before the death of the man...

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1. "Gregg Wiatt was stunned. On his 28th birthday-six months before the death of the man he had thought was his natural father-his mother told him the truth. She told him he was the offspring of a semen donor. Long before, though, Wiatt had felt somehow different. 'It was like there was always this secret I could never put my fingers on,' says the 37-year-old Denver sales and marketing executive. 'When I finally learned the truth, it felt like I was living between Disneyland and the Twilight Zone.' Bill Cordray, 47, also felt odd. 'It was something that kept edging into my consciousness,' says the Salt Lake City architect. He and his dad were 'so different. My interests were artistic-music, building, creative. So different from everyone else. I felt like a stranger in my family.' Wiatt and Cordray are among tens of thousands of people literally born out of the high-tech merger of egg and sperm. And, like most of the others, they're still in the dark-because records are confidential" ("When Dad's a Sperm Donor," 1993). Develop arguments on both sides of the question: Should sperm donor records be confidential? 2. The Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault purchased a state surplus computer for 20 dollars and found that it contained the medical records of more than 600 people. Upon discovering the records, the coalition's executive director began erasing them from the computer. Before erasing all the records, she decided to make a copy of those that had not been erased. She then provided about 500 names and data to a state representative and erased all the original records. Upon receipt of the records, the state representative was concerned because he did not want patients upset because their medical records were made public and because it was a potential liability for the state. Wisconsin has a statute that prohibits the "knowing and willful" release of medical records and requires a showing that there was a willing disregard. Was there a willing disregard? 1. "Gregg Wiatt was stunned. On his 28th birthday-six months before the death of the man he had thought was his natural father-his mother told him the truth. She told him he was the offspring of a semen donor. Long before, though, Wiatt had felt somehow different. 'It was like there was always this secret I could never put my fingers on,' says the 37-year-old Denver sales and marketing executive. 'When I finally learned the truth, it felt like I was living between Disneyland and the Twilight Zone.' Bill Cordray, 47, also felt odd. 'It was something that kept edging into my consciousness,' says the Salt Lake City architect. He and his dad were 'so different. My interests were artistic-music, building, creative. So different from everyone else. I felt like a stranger in my family.' Wiatt and Cordray are among tens of thousands of people literally born out of the high-tech merger of egg and sperm. And, like most of the others, they're still in the dark-because records are confidential" ("When Dad's a Sperm Donor," 1993). Develop arguments on both sides of the question: Should sperm donor records be confidential? 2. The Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault purchased a state surplus computer for 20 dollars and found that it contained the medical records of more than 600 people. Upon discovering the records, the coalition's executive director began erasing them from the computer. Before erasing all the records, she decided to make a copy of those that had not been erased. She then provided about 500 names and data to a state representative and erased all the original records. Upon receipt of the records, the state representative was concerned because he did not want patients upset because their medical records were made public and because it was a potential liability for the state. Wisconsin has a statute that prohibits the "knowing and willful" release of medical records and requires a showing that there was a willing disregard. Was there a willing disregard?

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1 Arguments for keeping sperm donor records confidential Privacy Donors and recipients may have agreed to confidentiality when participating in sperm ... View the full answer