Donor half sibling research

[Ash6]

Hi all,
I am the lesbian mother of 4 year old twins and a graduate student at Smith College School for Social Work. I am doing a thesis study on donor half sibling connections and am looking for participants. If you are a lesbian mother- single or partnered- who has used anonymous donor sperm and made a connection with your child's donor half siblings, and would be willing to participate in a short interview (via phone or in person depending on location- I am in Boston) please contact me. Or if you have further questions about the study before making a decision to participate please don't hesitate to contact me. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
Ash Turnbull
[e-mail]

[megincl]

Hi Folks,

Just wanted to pop in to say that I sent Ash to this site thinking that some of you might be interested in sharing experiences with her. She is caring, gentle, and genuine. I'm sure the interview would be enjoyable.

No pressure at all, of course, just wanted to add some legitimacy to a newbie poster's request.

be well all,
megin

[lexbeach]

Hi Ash! How nice to see you here! I hope you find some more willing families. We've got to make a plan to see each other sometime soon. Luke and Jaz have been requesting your lovely children daily ever since that weekend when you were supposed to come visit (I hope you're feeling better, by the way). And you need to meet Zeben before he gets any bigger than he already is (18 pounds now at 3 months!!!).

Ash is interviewing our family and some of our donor-sibling families too . . . for anyone else needing more reassurance that she is a very legit and very cool mama.

Welcome to MDC!

- Lex

[Baby Makes 4]

I have a lesbian friend in New York who is in a playgroup that is made up entirely of babies produced by the same sperm donor. I'll see if she would be willing to talk to you.

[kands]

x

[JWSJ]

Originally Posted by Baby Makes 4

I have a lesbian friend in New York who is in a playgroup that is made up entirely of babies produced by the same sperm donor.

What attributes made this particular donor so appealing?

How did they know their children had the same donor?

[Baby Makes 4]

Originally Posted by JWSJ

What attributes made this particular donor so appealing?

How did they know their children had the same donor?

I'm not sure about the first question but I guess there was a message board run by the donor clinic set up with forums for different donors? So the parents could talk to other parents who's children came from the same donor. I'm not sure why but she has shown me pictures of her daughter and her half siblings, it's pretty cute.

[Satori]

Have you contacted the DSR? There's over 2000 matches and I'm sure you'd have lots of people willing

[Ash6]

Originally Posted by Satori

Have you contacted the DSR? There's over 2000 matches and I'm sure you'd have lots of people willing

I have contacted the DSR. Unfortunately they are doing big budget research and were unwilling/unable to post my call for participants. Wendy, the founder, was however most kind and helpful.
Thanks for the suggestion.
Ash

[Ash6]

Originally Posted by Baby Makes 4

I have a lesbian friend in New York who is in a playgroup that is made up entirely of babies produced by the same sperm donor. I'll see if she would be willing to talk to you.

That would be great. Thank you so much for checking.
Ash

[JWSJ]

Originally Posted by Satori

Have you contacted the DSR?

What is the DSR?

[lexbeach]

Originally Posted by JWSJ

What is the DSR?

It's the Donor Sibling Registry (www.donorsiblingregistry.com ). People who have used a donor through a sperm bank can go there and search for other people who used the same donor (by bank and donor number). It used to be free, but I believe that they now charge an annual fee. Through the DSR, we've been able to find 12 other families (with 21 children total, including ours) who used the same donor. We share photos, medical information, and general updates with each other through a yahoo group. We hope to have a real-life get-together at some point (I have met two of the families IRL so far).

It's pretty fascinating stuff.

Lex

[Ash6]

Originally Posted by kands

PMing you!

Okay- I must admit I had to ask Megin what PMing was. I am now aware but have found no PM from you. Did I miss it?
Thanks,
Ash

[kands]

x

[Satori]

Originally Posted by lexbeach

It's the Donor Sibling Registry (www.donorsiblingregistry.com ). People who have used a donor through a sperm bank can go there and search for other people who used the same donor (by bank and donor number). It used to be free, but I believe that they now charge an annual fee. Through the DSR, we've been able to find 12 other families (with 21 children total, including ours) who used the same donor. We share photos, medical information, and general updates with each other through a yahoo group. We hope to have a real-life get-together at some point (I have met two of the families IRL so far).

It's pretty fascinating stuff.

Lex

Yep, lots of people find matches though them. I found all ours though the sperm banks boards though. Its a shame money dictates the DSR, my dd was born with a syndrome that were pretty sure came from the donor and I can't afford that $40 yearly fee but she wont allow me to update my old profile to add in the dx info even though there's no contact info. Makes me mad I can't warn others of the risk and have to hope parents will think to check with the bank if any of the babies have had issues to find it about it.