SELF-INSEMINATION IN BRAZIL AND INFORMATION AS A STRATEGY TO MINIMIZE HEALTH RISKS

Family planning as a constitutional right and infertility recognized as a disease demanded the Brazil ' s Public Health Unified System to offer fertilization to needy families, who are unable to conceive naturally. As the government does not support the burden of offering fertilization to everyone, people that cannot afford the costs of a specialized clinic to perform artificial insemination will find selfinsemination as the modest and informal solution. That is the reason for it growing alarmingly, with supporters throughout Brazil, which interacts on social networks: the '' trying to conceive '' women choose the '' donor '' in a kind of '' online semen bank '' to accomplish the procedure. However, there is scarce information about the risks that the method offers, health consequences and legal effects. Information is believed to be an instrument of prevention, because awareness of the risks, people will be able to seek alternatives from genetic counseling to minimize damage.