In this age of computerized lists about just about anything, why isn’t there a good list of where all those sperm donor’s deposits go? Fatherhood should be taken more seriously than just an advertisement in the back of a magazine, cash for sperm. Should family ties mean anything anymore? At least for heredity of possible life span or history of diseases like heat disease, Alzheimer’s or cancer, it would be good for someone to know the history of the people that made you you.  Why is America not concerned about the statistics?

In some instances a particular sperm donor could have fathered as many as 200 children. Does ethics fall anywhere here? I guess not. At times you can find large advertisements in good college’s newspapers seeking sperm donors from some smart guys. Some guys answer the advertisements because they can use the cash or inquire just for the fun of it. Women get harassed for their abortion rights all the time but no one cares about what the guys are doing. People who go to a sperm bank really want to have children. Creating life should be documented more carefully. Most men donate especially if they don’t have to meet any of their children.

All donor dads sign   an agreement to remain anonymous. The families on the receiving end are only given basic background information about their donor. His age, height, ethnicity, education, birth place are disclosed. clincks  They   give a donor an identification number that has now become the gateway to possible meetings   between child and dad. It is an innate human desire for all humans to want to know where they come from.  There is an on line database called The Donor Sibling Registry. It is a networking site for children who want to connect by matching their donor father’s identification number. 47 thousand people have registered including 2,300 donor dads.  The kids want to see his smile, know his story and see if they look alike.  Most kids are the children of a single mother and have gone through life asking, “ Where is daddy? “

Photos on the site are connecting people. Many are meeting and are beginning to have close relationships. Many men are giving up their resilience and meeting multiple children that they have fathered. There was a man who orchestrated a meeting of 8 of his children that no one ever met before from eight different mothers. Hugging at first is awkward but then soon becomes contagious as laughter and friendliness ensues. The reproductive industry does little to make it easier for donor dads and their children to meet. Why is it that not even the government keeps track of the donors or kids? There is no tracking whatsoever. Sperm banks ask mothers to record donor births but it is not required and no organization links different clinics to the total number of births to a single donor identification.

No one really knows how many kids are out there from a single donor.  The largest group known is a guy who has about 200 kids.  Are humans being born into herds? Some men donate regularly year after year.  The guy with the eight kids admits to donating about 400 times. A single donation at a sperm bank can produce as many as 24 sellable vials. So, do the math. The guy with the 400 donations could have produced 9,600 vials for his clinic to sell. Who even wants all his kids roaming the earth? We need a better system and we need it now!