AFA Telephone Support Group re Donor Gametes

no. 381

Tonight the American Fertility Association is holding a telephone support group titled "Parenting Donor Gamete Children (Donor Sperm, Donor Egg, Donor Embryo). The Disclosure Issue: If, What, When, and How."

It was an advance registration group and before being enrolled the moderators asked a series of questions to get a feel where everybody is at regarding whether the participants even have kids yet, how they were conceived, whether other biologicaly connected children are in the household, and if we had any thoughts or basic concerns regarding disclosure.

I am interested to see what the general consensus of the group is on all levels and also curious to see how the group is run. I have never participated in a telephone group before and to date I have only seen the AFA run Ovum Donor seminars as opposed to any involving donor insemination.

I will post how it all went either later tonight or over the next couple of days.

diBabyGap.com - Coming to a Mall Near You ?

no. 368

I happened upon the above website diBaby.com and my immediate reaction seeing the name was to ask did I happen upon a retail site like Baby Gap? Turns out the page is an extension of the web site The Baby Corner which is an information resource and bulletin board service. But my first reaction was what the heck is this?

The site does not appear to have any direct live links back to The Baby Corner but is clearly related to it by the corporate footer at the bottom of the page. What is strange about this page is that The Baby Corner has a number of donor conception related pages, all pretty much standard definitions, basic issue stuff, so why would they feel they needed a new separate website with the name diBaby.com? I have submitted a question to them to find out more as I am curious.

I almost thought at first this was a site like the SpermCenter which is one stop shopping for sperm donors across many different cryobanks or a site for an organization similiar to The Abraham Center, the Texas based embryo adoption center which was in the news.

Maybe they'll do a promotion with the Gap where they will sell t-shirts that say diBabyGap.com? They would certainly be a attention getter and conversation starter at the neighborhood playground.

AFA Telephone Support Group: 5/31/2007 Parenting Donor Gamete Children

no. 362

Copied entirely from American Fertility Association email :

"TOPIC: Parenting Donor Gamete Children (Donor Sperm, Donor Egg, Donor Embryo).
The Disclosure Issue: If, What, When, And How".

This coaching group is accessible to you via your telephone.
It is appropriate for couples and individuals who

• Are considering the use of donor sperm, egg, or embryo to create their children
  
• Are already parenting children created by donor sperm, egg, or embryo
  

During this one hour group conference call, you will have the opportunity to receive information on:

• The pros and cons of disclosure to children of their genetic origin
  
• What and when to share this information with children if you so choose
  
• If and how to share this information with family and friends

You will also have the opportunity to share information and support one another in making this decision and implementing this aspect of parenting.

When:
Thursday, May 31, 2007

Time:
9:00 PM to 10:00 p.m. PM, EST

Facilitators:
Joann Paley Galst, Ph.D. and Patricia Mendell, L.C.S.W


NO FEE for AFA MEMBERS !


For more information, and to register, contact:
Joann Galst (jgalst@aol.com or 212-759-2783)
or Patricia Mendell (pmendell@aol.com or 212-819-1778)