More Info on How We Chose: (1) The Sperm Bank

Some of this was addressed in my earliest posts back in August 2005. The following is part of an email interview I participated in with a journalist friend Mikki Morrissette (note I have removed the actual names of the sperm banks):

1. How did you decide on the sperm bank that you used? (And DI Dad, remind me, how many years ago was this? Two?)

We first started with ABC back in 1999 and at that point the donor sperm was to be a backup to a testicular biopsy I was to undergo in support of an IVF-ICSI cycle we were attempting here in NYC. We chose ABC due to the variety they had and to be honest the IVF clinic we were using suggested them, DEF and maybe a few others. Being dumb and not given any real support we went to the banks the clinic suggested rather than doing a lot of research on our own.

We actually started with one ABC donor and then switched to a second donor but when his samples were no longer available we restarted our whole selection process. One of our most important concerns was to ensure we could secure enough vials to create over time two full siblings from the same donors and that was no longer a sure thing with the donors we found at ABC. Their selection of Jewish donors was quite small and we were not thrilled with the ones we saw.

When these initial IVF cycles failed (using my own scant few sperm) we started looking at DEF (around late 2000) and again as it was one of the sperm banks the “experts” suggested and again we figured they knew best.

Our selection process was our own and mostly focused on matching the donor’s blood type, heritage, and somewhat his physical characteristics to my own. We had no help from anybody at the IVF clinic or from the sperm banks.

Again at DEF our most important concerns were the donor’s characteristics (physical and education) and religious background and most importantly the number of vials available.

[Subsequent posts related to this email interview will include: (1) What the Sperm Bank told you re Post Conception Disclosure Issues and (2) How We Decided on a Specific Donor]