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Posted January 13, 2012 at 7:50 AM

Pacific Reproductive Services

filed under: trying, sperm, sperm bank, , open-identity donor,

Periodically on the discussion boards, or in individual emails to me, women will ask for information about Pacific Reproductive Services, which is a less well-known sperm bank that was formed in 1984 to help single women and lesbian couples who were facing discrimination in family-building from the medical community.

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Posted January 4, 2012 at 10:15 AM

NEW SPONSOR: European Sperm Bank USA

filed under: trying, thinking, sperm, sperm bank, , Seattle, sperm donor, insemination, open-identity donor

I've been looking for additional sponsors to help develop Choice Mom resources, and one that has long been interested in working with us is European Sperm Bank USA.

Posted March 22, 2011 at 11:25 AM

Guide to Sperm Banks and Donor Conception

filed under: sperm bank, trying, checklist, donor conception, donor offspring, feature, open-identity donor, thinking, being, policy, QandA, resources, sperm, sperm donor, tips

It's finally here! The Choice Mom Guide to Donor Sperm. Click here for the e-book, available as a complimentary guidebook for anyone who is choosing or has chosen sperm donation to build their family.

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Posted November 30, 2010 at 2:55 PM

The Embryo Donation frontier

filed under: trying, embryo, hot topic, resources, telling and talking, open adoption, open-identity donor

As I begin exploring the area of embryo adoption for the Choice Mom community, I am finding partners in the area who can talk us through the wide open frontier it seems to be right now. Here are my notes from one recent conversation.

Posted November 5, 2010 at 7:35 AM

Australia's precedent in examining donor conception

filed under: trying, being, news, policy, Australia, donor conception, donor offspring, anonymous donor, ChoiceKids, open-identity donor, sperm bank, Canada, UnitedKingdom

There is a national discussion starting in the Australian Parliament about how to regulate and legislate donor conception practices across federal and state lines.

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Posted October 27, 2010 at 10:55 AM

Spotlight: California Cryobank

filed under: thinking, trying, sperm, sperm bank, , event insights, insemination, podcast, policy, products, resources, LosAngeles, donor offspring, open-identity donor, anonymous donor, ChoiceKids

Several years ago I got a call from the long-time co-founder of California Cryobank (CCB), gently and intelligently "checking me out" as an educational partner in his attempt to help his colleagues in the sperm bank industry understand why some policies needed to change. Since then...

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Posted September 18, 2010 at 10:00 AM

Meeting half-siblings

filed under: being, ChoiceKids, telling and talking, donor offspring, genetics, resources, anonymous donor, open-identity donor

A woman with two young children wrote to say that a half-sibling of her kids was traveling to the U.S. from another country and wanted to meet, since the children shared the same sperm donor. The mother didn't feel prepared to talk to her kids about how they were connected, yet didn't want to miss the opportunity to meet.

Posted September 15, 2010 at 10:25 AM

Voices of Donor Conception

filed under: ChoiceKids, genetics, anonymous donor, donor conception, thinking, trying, book, donor offspring, expert insight, insemination, open-identity donor, parenting, policy, resources, sperm, sperm bank, telling and talking

ONLY TEN COPIES LEFT IN PRINT! Years ago I collaborated with Wendy and Ryan Kramer, the mother-and-son co-founders of Donor Sibling Registry, on some new tools for families created by donor conception. This was one of them.

Posted September 14, 2010 at 3:35 PM

Q: How does your open-identity donor policy work?

filed under: anonymous donor, trying, insemination, sperm, sperm bank, policy, open-identity donor

This is one in a series of Q&As I am conducting with members of the donor sperm industry. The goal is to help educate Choice Moms-in-the-making about important policies that should help inform their decision about which bank to work with, even before choosing a donor.

Posted August 19, 2010 at 10:20 AM

Notes from NYC event

filed under: NYC, telling and talking, money matters, donor offspring, open-identity donor, sperm bank, organization, stress, event insights

I lived in New York City 18 years, so it's always a little odd for me to fly in and out of town for a weekend workshop, as I've done the last two visits. But we do pack a lot of information-sharing and support into these events, and the NYC event held in July 2010 was quite dense with resources. Here is some of what we shared.

Posted August 3, 2010 at 3:40 AM

Diana: can I raise a child without a dad?

filed under: thinking, UnitedKingdom, profile, ChoiceKids, donor offspring, emotions, growing up without a father, open-identity donor, Europe, waiting

While in London I had the pleasure of meeting a woman at the Choice Mom gathering who told me about how she had decided some time ago that she definitely would not become a single mom -- partly after reading my "Choosing Single Motherhood" book. 18 months later, however, she's back on the path. I asked her to share her story about the thinking process.

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Posted June 28, 2010 at 2:25 PM

Asking the Right Questions: Sperm banks

filed under: thinking, trying, donor offspring, ChoiceKids, feature, anonymous donor, insemination, open-identity donor, expert insight, tips, checklist

It is more important to start your donor search with selection of the right sperm bank, before identifying donor characteristics. Arm yourself with this checklist of questions to begin the process.

Posted March 4, 2010 at 3:50 PM

Our 3 biggest regrets

filed under: podcast, thinking, trying, emotions, being, ChoiceChat, ChoiceKids, doctor, commentary, daddy question, donor offspring, open-identity donor, open adoption, telling and talking

There are three things Choice Moms report in hindsight are their biggest regrets. What do you think they are?

3 Regrets in hindsight

What do women wish they had known before they embarked on the Choice Mom journey?

Regret #1: waiting (6.5 minutes)

Regret #2: doctor (11 minutes)

Regret #3: origin story (10 minutes)

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Posted February 20, 2010 at 8:45 AM

Building a family with donor conception

filed under: anonymous donor, ChoiceKids, donor offspring, podcast, open-identity donor, expert insight, ChoiceChat

I have talked to many experts -- including donor-conceived adults -- about the pros, cons, strengths and weaknesses of anonymous and open-identity donor conception as the method to building a family. Listen in:

Posted February 11, 2010 at 5:50 PM

Do I Have a Dad?

filed under: being, daddy question, ChoiceKids, growing up without a father, expert insight, donor offspring, emotions, anonymous donor, open-identity donor, known donor, nyc, SanFrancisco, UnitedKingdom, telling and talking, donor conception, resources

We're building an audio library featuring the best of our Choosing Single Motherhood radio show and Choice Chat podcasts. You can order the first of this collection, "Choice Moms Answer the Tough Questions: Do I Have a Dad?" (formerly a CD product, available here for immediate $7 download).

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Posted February 6, 2010 at 9:25 PM

Open-identity donors

filed under: anonymous donor, open-identity donor, ChoiceKids, sperm bank, commentary

Once upon a time, doctors advised infertile couples to keep the fact of donor conception a secret from everyone, including the child. Led partly by the lessons of adoption, and especially with more importance today placed on knowing ones genetic markers and family medical histories, being able to make limited contact with the donor someday has become encouraged.