fertility news

Within the last 6 months the main stream media has aired (CBS 60 minutes; March 19,2006) and/or published (The New York Times Magazine; March 19, 2006) stories on anonymous sperm donation. The use of donor sperm for male factor infertility has been traced back to the Talmud in the third century A.D. and in the US to 1884. The first reported pregnancies using frozen samples occurred in 1953 and were the precursor for the current practice of therapeutic donor insemination (TDI). Currently, donor insemination (DI) is used extensively by couples experiencing severe male factor infertility, yet, the practice remains shrouded in a great deal of secrecy. Two reasons are given for the strict confidentiality preserved by the recipient couple. The first, very simply, is because it is easy to keep male infertility a secret, and the second is to avoid the stigma of male infertility in a culture that puts much emphasis on masculinity and virility. The sperm donor, on the other hand has remained anonymous to insulate him from legal, financial or other paternal responsibilities.

The Office of Technology Assessment maintains that in the US more couples build families through donor insemination than adoption. In the past, an estimated 30,000 children, perhaps under-representative of the actual number, would most likely never have known their genetic father, and due to the secrecy, be lost to any sort of follow-up. This however is changing.

More single women are choosing to become mothers and according to the NY Times article, “Wanted: A Few Good Sperm,” California Cryobank, the largest sperm bank in the US, maintains that “single mothers account for approximately 1/3 of their business,” and single mothers combined with lesbian couples comprise about half of the people currently using sperm banks. The article goes on to say that Single Mothers by Choice, a 25 year-old support group, “nearly doubled the number of new members in 2005” than it did 10 years prior since the stigma attached to this form of motherhood is disappearing. The rise in the number of single mothers by choice, lesbian couples and the widespread use of the Internet may partially lift the veil of secrecy that has traditionally surrounded DI. The absence of a male figure in the home makes keeping the origin of a child’s birth more difficult to explain and this has prompted some donor offspring to find out more about that missing genetic component.

The Donor Sibling Registry is an online database started by Wendy Kramer after attempts to find her son’s biological father through the sperm bank she used were unsuccessful. It is a worldwide registry for donor conceived people and the response has been enormous with more than 7,000 members reported when the story aired on CBS in March. The members send in their contact information, the name of the sperm bank used, and the donor number which the website collates. The information is then made available to donors, their offspring and half-siblings who can use it to contact each other if they so desire. Ms Kramer explained that, “Adult donor conceived people, and now more than ever, even the donors themselves are coming to the site saying, ‘I had no idea that I had the right to be curious.’” Like her son Ryan Kramer, who was curious about his biological father and any potential half-siblings, many donor offspring want more information about that missing piece of the genetic equation. Meeting half-siblings allows them to see similarities in physical characteristics or personality traits about which they may have been curious. Finally, for many who may never meet the donor himself, having and meeting half-siblings gives them an extended family of people who share a lot more than DNA.

References:
Bernstein J. The long term psychologic and social effects of gamete donation. In: Seibel MM, Kiessling AA, Bernstein J, Levin SR, eds. Technology and infertility: clinical, psychosocial, legal and ethical aspects. (1993) New York: Springer-Verlag. P.337-46.

Egan J. Wanted: A Few Good Sperm. The New York Times Magazine. March 19, 2006.

Office of Technology Assessment. (1988) Artificial Insemination Practice in the U.S.. Washington D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Siebel M. Therapeutic donor insemination. In: Siebel M, Crockin S, editors. Family building through egg and sperm donation. Medical, legal and ethical issues. Sudbury: Jones and Bartlett; 1996. p. 33-45.