A gal on an infertility forum posted this article...it's worth the read
http://www.self.com/magazine/article...or_single_page
My 2 cents: It's definitely a risk we'll all be taking...but when I read this article, I'm not surprised that rare genetic diseases occasionally show up with donor sperm, since any of us could have a rare disease in our own genes that simply hasn't shown up yet or had a child live long enough to yeild a diagnosis... for example, in my own family, my grandmother was diagnosed with Huntington's disease, a rare and devastating disease that affects one's body, mind and mood very quickly at middle age. This disease is dominant, meaning you don't need two parents to have the disease show up in a child, it's a 50-50 chance. Luckily, my mother tested negative, meaning me and my siblings are ok. But I think that this disease has been in my family likely for generations, and no one knew until a few years ago.
So, again, rare diseases showing up in donors...I figure the odds of it happening are just as good, if not LESS, than the odds associated with any male partner we might have in our lives (if applicable )
What does bother me is the fact that illnesses were being reported and the banks didn't pull the donor's units off the shelves and notify all people using/who have used that donor. That crosses the line. Luckily, the only listed two banks that did this. I for one am not and wouldn't use either one after reading this.
http://www.self.com/magazine/article...or_single_page
My 2 cents: It's definitely a risk we'll all be taking...but when I read this article, I'm not surprised that rare genetic diseases occasionally show up with donor sperm, since any of us could have a rare disease in our own genes that simply hasn't shown up yet or had a child live long enough to yeild a diagnosis... for example, in my own family, my grandmother was diagnosed with Huntington's disease, a rare and devastating disease that affects one's body, mind and mood very quickly at middle age. This disease is dominant, meaning you don't need two parents to have the disease show up in a child, it's a 50-50 chance. Luckily, my mother tested negative, meaning me and my siblings are ok. But I think that this disease has been in my family likely for generations, and no one knew until a few years ago.
So, again, rare diseases showing up in donors...I figure the odds of it happening are just as good, if not LESS, than the odds associated with any male partner we might have in our lives (if applicable )
What does bother me is the fact that illnesses were being reported and the banks didn't pull the donor's units off the shelves and notify all people using/who have used that donor. That crosses the line. Luckily, the only listed two banks that did this. I for one am not and wouldn't use either one after reading this.
