questions, questions...

I didn't make this decision to do this anonymous sperm donor thing overnight ya know. It took nearly a year to convince me it was not only a good idea, but the right one. I started looking into it last year, but it all seemed to overwhelming, so I went back to wishing for my prince, or an immaculate conception. Then I woke up and realized neither were happening in the near future so I HAD to bite the bullet and make the decision.

Thank goodness for the internet. I spent hours staring at it, well at the screen, reading, reading, reading. Then I started talking to friends. Funnily most of which knew of someone who had done it (I've said this in previous posts). I am fascinated as to why a guy would want to be a donor. How could he father children he will never meet and then go on to have a meaningful relationship and a family of his own? Does he ever think about them? How weird would it be to walk down the isle of a supermarket, or be sitting in an airport lounge and see a little boy who is the spitting image of you.

I chose the baby daddy that I did after narrowing my search down to one religion, wow, already the pool had shrunk, height and eye color (yes, I'm that pathetic). I've always been attracted to a certain type of guy, as are most girls and eye color, oddly enough played a part in it, so I decided to stick to my "list" (more on this in a future post) and choose a donor with that specific feature. Well, then there were only a handful, which actually made the whole process MUCH less intimidating. I read through the profiles and sent a couple of finalists to friends to help with the decision. The one I chose was the donor we had all actually agreed on. No, I will never reveal his id number, just fyi.

Here's the scoop that I've found out so far, on donors...

They have to be between 19 and 39 years old and be graduates or graduating from a major 4 year US university.

They go through a stringent screening process including interviews, genetic history, a complete physical examination and then have to leave several sperm samples for medical testing. This includes all STD's, Hepatitis B and C and anything to do with Hepatitis, HIV....you get the idea. They are very thorough and repeat the process more than once. Then there's all the genetic tests which include Tay Sachs, Canavan Disease, Sickle Cell Disease, Familial Dysautonomia and Chromosome Analysis and Cystic Fibrosis. If this was a book, you would be able to reference the descriptions for these genetic diseases on page 254, but no, it's a blog and I'm still trying to become technically savvy enough to figure out how to link them...give me time...

They have to commit to the program for one to two years and donate 2-3 times A WEEK for which they get $75/specimen. That's $1100 a week if they donate three times!!! What guy would say no to THAT???

The guy has to agree to have a twice yearly physical exam and have blood tests every three months. Not so terrible when you get to "donate" for money 3 times a week!!!

How's this....they only accept less than 1% of all men who apply....cool, huh?