Conceiving with a donor: what you should know

A majority of single women who decide to take the Choice Mom journey try to conceive using donated sperm. In fact, single women have become such a significant part of the donor conception industry that our interests as consumers have impacted new policies at sperm banks. Being open with our children about their biological roots has led to greater curiosity about donor details and a gradual rise in the numbers of open-identity or identity-release donors becoming available.

1. ARTICLES:

• The five types of donors.
• What is an open-identity donor?
• Negotiating with a known donor.
• Selecting a sperm bank.
• What to know about post-thaw sperm count, and getting a refund if it's low.
  
• Philadelphia court allows case from 13-year-old girl affected by genetic abnormality in donor sperm

2. LISTEN: These Choice Chat podcasts are about finding the answers we need about the donor conception path.

• Ryan Kramer: why I have searched for my donor and half-siblings
  
• My life as an anonymous sperm donor -- an interview with a man who donated for 15 years and has now made contact with some of his offspring.
• Tracking pregnancies: why it's important, with Patricia Mendell of American Fertility Association
  
• Our most popular podcast, What every donor-conceived adult wants to know
• How to choose a sperm bank, carefully
• Taking pride in our donor-conceived families, with New Zealand researcher Ken Daniels
  
• COMING IN MAY: "Choosing Single Motherhood" radio show (see left) features interviews with experts about talking to children about donor conception

3. SHARED STORIES: Here's what we're talking about on the blogs:

• Thinking: In hindsight, what would you have done differently?
  
• Trying: IVF or bust? How to potentially afford more expensive fertility treatment.
  
• Waiting: Another kind of two-week wait.
  
• Becoming: What I've learned in my first 10 months as a mother; and Dealing with the day-to-day 'what if' terrors.
  
• Being: Finding joy from the dark places.
  
• Choice Moms: the ethics of reproduction.
  
  4. WEBCAST OF THE MONTH: The three basic steps involved in donor conception.
  
  
  
  5. RESOURCES: If you haven't discovered RadioLab yet, check out this entertaining show about "why so much sperm?" and are males needed anymore? Check out this list from Human Rights Campaign about sperm banks friendly to single women and lesbian couples. Check out this commentary from The American Fertility Association's Joann Paley Galst about how government regulations in the industry could affect women's reproductive choice.
  
  IN DEVELOPMENT: Directories of mental health therapists, doulas, financial/estate planners, fertility specialists who support the Choice Mom community. Send your recommendations to info at choicemoms dot org.

  
  
  Choice Moms is a proud sponsor of CARE, which helps mothers and children worldwide.