tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-152266682024-03-15T20:05:12.595-04:00Life as Dad to Donor Insemination (DI) KidsSince 2005, thoughts, comments, and observations about creating and raising children that biologically are not my own but emotionally and legally are mine.DI_Dadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11269670525807343134noreply@blogger.comBlogger661125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15226668.post-41412995260422196892024-01-13T18:20:00.001-05:002024-01-13T18:20:47.539-05:00The Complete Picture Musical Thank you @theerinmaya @thecompletepicturemusical My daughter, my wife, Z's stepmom, and I loved attending the show. The music and lyrics were great. Loved it being a rock show. Enjoyed finally meeting @theerinmaya in person and reconnecting in person with @cassandrajadams.
Z enjoyed meeting everyone. Her experience is vastly different but she appreciated knowing that she is not alone DI_Dadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11269670525807343134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15226668.post-30824606270965676072023-12-08T09:53:00.000-05:002023-12-08T09:53:01.753-05:00The Complete PictureLooking forward to attending this show with my wife and my daughter. DI_Dadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11269670525807343134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15226668.post-91398835631431627512023-06-18T11:07:00.000-04:002023-06-18T11:08:16.244-04:00Reducing the Stigma of Donor ConceptionBack in 2006, USA Today featured an article where several Dads were interviewed. At that time, USA Today was generally not distributed free in NYC, it was one Sunday, I think the week before Father's Day, where they gave away several thousand free copies in NYC. Many people in NYC that did not know our story learned it. Was amusing.
My goal in being public has always been two fold. OneDI_Dadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11269670525807343134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15226668.post-7170409237611820742023-01-01T09:25:00.001-05:002023-01-01T09:25:32.904-05:00Whose Story ? ' https://www.washingtonpost.com/advice/2023/01/01/carolyn-hax-grandma-post-baby-news/There is an interesting article in today's WP advice column regarding sharing baby news after TTC issues that can easily be applied to donor conception or a number of scenarios where one family member looks to share news of another person's story. In summary, a couple have struggled to achieve a DI_Dadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11269670525807343134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15226668.post-85053690808160995752022-01-21T23:49:00.001-05:002022-01-21T23:49:49.835-05:00Request - Retweet NYS Senate Bill 7602I have a request. Please retweet the below linked tweet from my @life_di_dad Twitter account to show NYS that SB 7602 The Donor Conceived Person Protection had support. It's the pinned tweet at the top. Can I get 100 retweets this weekend ! https://twitter.com/life_di_dad/status/1484553887839363086?s=21NYS Residents please contact your State Senator asking them to support DI_Dadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11269670525807343134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15226668.post-4040799034520415242022-01-01T14:48:00.001-05:002022-01-01T14:48:35.056-05:00DNA Matching SeasonIt's DNA Matching season.
It's that time of year after holiday gifts of DNA kits are given that for a number of persons life is turned upside down. New discoveries are brought by emails which lead to questions and sometimes long buried secrets revealed. Take care.
I don't have the words to describe what made your parents hide such a truth. They may have been counseled by DI_Dadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11269670525807343134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15226668.post-27886226274641438252021-12-29T11:42:00.001-05:002021-12-29T11:42:39.267-05:00My Letters re NYS Bill 7602 - Donor Conceived Person Protection ActGood morning,I am sending this email to many of my friends that are NYS residents and asking a favor. Most of you are aware that my children are donor conceived. I have copied you on two Emails below I sent this morning to my State Senator. Please read them. For the first time a bill has been introduced into the NYS Senate that would subject the infertility industry to DI_Dadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11269670525807343134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15226668.post-19212354241040752522021-12-28T14:07:00.001-05:002021-12-28T14:07:49.872-05:00NYS Legislation: The Donor Conceived Person Protection ActA legislative bill titled The Donor Conceived Person Protection Act has been submitted for consideration to the NYS Senate by State Senator Patrick Gallivan of the 59th Senate District.
This legislation resulted from one family's story where a donor self reported their medical history omitting important details. Consequently both donor and a child conceived via this donor each died due toDI_Dadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11269670525807343134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15226668.post-49915827087427673532021-11-16T10:41:00.001-05:002021-11-16T10:41:25.530-05:00Thinking About Being Non Genetically ConnectedThe question I saw asked is whether you think about being the non genetic parent and does it get easier. This is not a post promoting donor conception nor is it a post to argue for donor conception as a practice to be stopped.
It's a post to assure those individuals who are parents to donor conceived individuals to be 100% present in that role. You are there now. Loving your kid, DI_Dadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11269670525807343134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15226668.post-49839171995386143042021-09-25T05:15:00.001-04:002021-09-25T05:15:54.012-04:00The Great Sperm HeistGreat article about donor conception and the sperm heist. The twist here I had not seen in earlier exposes that the sperm of healthy patients being stolen like this. I thought I had seen it all in these stories. Apparently not. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/sep/25/the-great-sperm-heist-they-were-playing-with-peoples-lives#DonorConceived #DonorSperm #FertilityFraud #DI_Dadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11269670525807343134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15226668.post-45831550976242078702021-09-25T05:13:00.001-04:002021-09-25T05:13:18.272-04:00The Great Sperm Heist Great article about donor conception and the sperm heist. The twist here I had not seen in earlier exposes that the sperm of healthy patients being stolen like this. I thought I had seen it all in these stories. Apparently not.
#DonorConceived #DonorSperm #FertilityFraud #AncestryDNA #DNATesting #FamilySecrets #DNADetectives
Sent from my iPhDI_Dadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11269670525807343134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15226668.post-4805567627423969602021-05-11T12:16:00.001-04:002021-05-11T12:16:47.470-04:002006 Video re This DI Dad’s FearsFears in 2006. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7pC_59Uw4D4Back in 2006 when my #donorconceived children were still small, four and under, I contributed this video to a fledgling #internationalinfertilityfilmfestival organized by Melissa Ford aka #StirrupQueens repping the #donorconception side of TTC and #RecipientParents, although that phrase was not yet in vogue. I did not know DI_Dadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11269670525807343134noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15226668.post-2645588506761813792021-05-04T23:06:00.001-04:002021-05-04T23:06:53.417-04:00Will My Kids Be OK ?The truth is no one can give you an answer to that question or any question that definitively can predict the future. The only fact that is definite, is one parents don't want to hear and that is to not choose donor conception. It's sounds horrible to be that blunt, but it's the only option you know with 100% certainty the outcome.
.
Putting that aside our job as parents is to DI_Dadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11269670525807343134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15226668.post-50749368046492513122021-04-30T13:23:00.001-04:002021-04-30T13:23:15.593-04:00Sides of the Circle. Understanding Donor Conception. I am still here. I am just mostly over there. On Instagram.
My focus is still on my children. Working to be a good Dad. To recognize it's not about me. That realization came long ago. Trying to help others with questions they may have. I can't say I am pro DC or that I am anti DC. I understand the feelings on all sides of this circle. It is sides of a circle as for so many DI_Dadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11269670525807343134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15226668.post-88942991980642830572020-09-29T08:17:00.001-04:002020-09-29T12:39:49.895-04:00Follow me on InstagramI have not abandoned this blog. Really. But it does seem that Instagram has become the faster avenue for me to post images, links, comments etc. Long form commentary I will still post here. These are my roots. Since 2005. Below are images of the posts I have uploaded / published to Instagram since Mid June alone.Please join me on Instagram at Instagram.com/life_di_dad/
DI_Dadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11269670525807343134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15226668.post-9221269704617757502020-07-28T15:18:00.001-04:002020-07-28T15:18:19.567-04:00You Are Not My Real DadYou are not my real dad. I feared hearing those words. I knew one day they would be said. It did not make the fear any easier or the pain of hearing them being said. But I also knew because I am a good dad the hurt would pass. .There are so many fears that dads like me have. None are as cutting as this statement. Many involve rejection but this DI_Dadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11269670525807343134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15226668.post-66537584868231616612020-07-22T21:25:00.000-04:002020-07-22T21:25:38.321-04:00My Take on Telling
When we were kids the word “telling” usually involved tattling and getting someone in trouble. Maybe that is when we all started associating telling with a secret or ratting someone out and disclosing something that should be left unsaid.
Telling in the donor conception world is no less fraught with fear, apprehension, relief and honesty depending on who is doing the telling, who is hearing theDI_Dadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11269670525807343134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15226668.post-33587764659570563682020-07-21T10:35:00.001-04:002020-07-21T10:35:39.909-04:00You Were So Wanted This morning I reposted on Instagram a children's book recommendation regarding a book that addresses how babies are made for preschoolers but which specifically avoids the typical "you were so wanted" language that exists in many books geared forwards donor conceived children.
I wanted to discuss and ask why this language is triggering for many when it is employed in this manner.DI_Dadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11269670525807343134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15226668.post-7858855339469107252020-07-19T08:41:00.001-04:002020-07-19T08:41:13.797-04:00Difficult Conversations DI_Dadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11269670525807343134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15226668.post-16447643309372143682020-07-17T09:58:00.001-04:002020-07-17T09:58:07.817-04:00I Wish Statement # 1 re Donor ConceptionDI_Dadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11269670525807343134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15226668.post-82570556972793936792020-07-17T09:05:00.001-04:002020-07-17T09:05:54.039-04:00I Wish Statement # 2So I was asked by Miss.Conception Coach to submit another whiteboard "I Wish" statement. This was my first thought. It was not directly infertility related, despite my still being infertile, but it's what came to mind. My kids are teens so far past the TTC stage. Thought this was the more appropriate audience for it.
I try to tell families TTC that the experiences and mindsets ofDI_Dadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11269670525807343134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15226668.post-87855397206943137342020-06-24T17:53:00.003-04:002020-06-24T17:57:04.687-04:00My Recent Instagram Life_DI_Dad Page
instagram.com/life_di_dad
Thirty Instagram posts since I posted my last Blog entry. Interesting. I admit it's fast and easy mostly. Check out all of these posts live on my Instagram feed at @Life_DI_Dad
I am enjoying the medium and the connection to the donor conception and male factor infertility communities.
DI_Dadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11269670525807343134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15226668.post-33859430334071553432020-06-17T06:09:00.001-04:002020-06-17T06:09:53.179-04:00An Updated Fathers Day Letter to Our DonorIn 2007, I wrote a letter to my children's sperm donor on Father's Day which I periodically have reposted on subsequent Father's Days. This year my letter concludes with an update to that letter while keeping its original text. 2007:With Father's Day on the horizon my thoughts stray to the man whose gift allowed my children to come into being. This man is not the doctor or mid DI_Dadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11269670525807343134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15226668.post-78186589041934020552020-06-14T22:42:00.000-04:002020-06-14T23:11:49.484-04:00One Part of the Family Story
Julie over at the Instagram account HappyTogetherChildrensBook I believe truly nails the message I have come to believe over all these years. Donor Conception is only part of each family's story.
At the same time Jana Rupnow through her Instagram account Three Makes Baby has created a new Family Tree Project where the traditional family tree is upended to include epigenetic DI_Dadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11269670525807343134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15226668.post-90548283314465778412020-06-10T21:48:00.000-04:002020-06-10T21:55:58.834-04:00Future Guest on Podcast Three Makes Baby
Later this month I will be recording a guest spot on the Three Makes Baby podcast. It's been a while since I have done anything like this so it should be interesting.Post 637
I started publicly addressing the topic of #donorconception, specifically #malefactorinfertility and #donorinsemination in 2005 when my son was three and my daughter one, At that time very few men were public DI_Dadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11269670525807343134noreply@blogger.com0