Posted June 23, 2010 at 10:46 PM by Julie

Pacific Reproductive Services now offers adult photos and videos for a few of their donors, and they expect to increase the numbers over time.

Posted April 14, 2010 at 10:46 AM by Jessica

Hi Lara,

Mikki and I are still working on the report card, but thought I would chime in to help you out a bit if I can since it is not up yet. There are definitely lots of things to consider when thinking through which sperm bank to choose...and part of finding the right donor is only part of that search.

Before getting into some of the banks that might offer what you are looking for keep in mind the following points as you do your search:

1) Make sure the sperm bank that you choose self-regulates...meaning do they follow-up on pregnancies, how often are they in touch with the donor even after he leaves the program..this is critical in terms of verifying number of offspring and also for future correspondence with the donor...especially later in life as he discovers new things in his own family (as his mother or grandmother having breast cancer, or his own children being born with a genetic disorder). If the bank is out of touch or there is no place for the donor to keep connected on such events in his life, your own child will also be disadvantaged in learning more about his/her biological history.

2) Also, make sure you understand their Open ID policy. Do they have a clear Open-ID policy...read the fine print as many banks differ in terms of their policy for Open ID Donors

3) How do they monitor to make sure the donor is only participating in one bank and not several? This will change the number of offspring from this donor if he is actually participating in other bank programs. I discovered I picked out the same donor from two different banks when I was looking around...so it does happen!

In terms of your questions, there is no one bank that is going to offer everything you are looking for unfortunately. You will have to weigh what is most important to you. There are banks, like Xytex that offer Adult photos, but then their offspring count is pretty high. Other banks like Pacific Reproductive Services in California are Lesbian owned and therefore open to alternative families...so they pitch alternative families to the men that are participating in their program. This was important to me as I wanted to make sure that the donor knew that there was a chance that offspring could end up in a family that did not have a father.

The Sperm Bank of California offers the lowest offspring count (I believe it is 10), but they also have a limited number of Open ID donors to choose from.

Most banks will offer the medical background, but again it will vary in terms of detail. Some will get a comprehensive background and others will just ask basic questions. Some banks offer this for free but most include this information as part of their package of a donor. Many times the adult pictures or baby pictures, or videos and audio files are all extra. Again, its something you will need to weigh in terms of what is most important to you.

For me, my first priority was whether or not they self-regulate and prioritize the child conceived in terms of best interest rather than the consumer. My second priority was that a bank be open to alternative families. Only after I found a bank that did both of these did I start to look at what was important to me in terms of the donor. At the end of the day my child may or may not want to know certain things about the donor...but if the bank I chose has a closed door policy or does not track pregnancies, or does not keep in touch with the donor after the program, than all I will have to share with my child is the basic forms I received from the bank at the beginning....I wanted to make sure that my child had opportunities that I might not have thought about, and these questions can only be answered from a Bank that is conscious itself of the child and, more importantly, proactively regulates itself to ensure that what is being done is and will be done in the best interest of the child.

I hope this helps get you started and also helps you think through your top priority issues when choosing a bank...hopefully we all become conscious consumers for our children's sake and can help change the industry to be more child-friendly and put the best interest of the child first rather than last. Good Luck!

Posted April 5, 2010 at 8:24 PM by leandra

Any thoughts on California Cryobank?

Posted March 4, 2010 at 11:00 PM by Lara

The Sperm Bank report card will be a welcome resource to choice moms. I am need of the report card now. Since it is not yet available, please offer your advice. After listening to the podcasts offered on this site, I am much more aware of the choices that I have. I am looking for a sperm bank with open donors, free medical information available in their catalogue, a limitation to the number of offspring per donor (though I haven't yet determined what an ethical number is), and ideally, adult photos. It would also be wonderful to work with a bank that has a positive relationship with choice moms. Am I asking too much? Should I be looking for more? Please advise! And thank you, thank you, thank you.

Posted February 25, 2010 at 9:04 PM by Mikki

Dee: Note that we have MANY lesbian/queer women who pursue Choice Motherhood. You are certainly welcome to peruse all the info here about fertility, emotions, donor insemination. The only difference between you and most of the women on this website is that Choice Moms are doing this without a partner. You are lucky enough to have one.

Posted February 18, 2010 at 3:19 PM by Dee Angel

Not many people are going to like this, but: my girlfriend and i are researching insemination to have children. i have been blasted with hate mail at other websites. we are a lesbian couple who have been together five years. we are both finishing our degrees and would like to start a family. we don not know where to even begin. my girlfriend is young and in very good health. i on the other hand have a history of early menopause that effect the women in my family. i am going to be 33 years old. my mom hit menopause at 36 and my grandmother at 38. i am in the military and facing another deployment to iraq. time is of the essence and i want to have a child, but with school, deployment, and early menopause all working against us i dont know what i can do. my girlfriend can conceive with no problems at all. im just afraid i will be cheated because i kept putting it on the backburner. home insemination is the method we were both interested in. i stubmled upon this website through surfing other links and would really like some feedback. take away the sexual preference and i am just like many of the woman who come to this site. i am a woman who wants to have a child. please reply with any advice, but dont reply about who i love.