The World Egg Bank was excited to learn about a new online service, Donor Sibling Registry, that helps donor recipients deal with life after conception. Getting in contact with a sperm, egg or embryo donor later on in life can be difficult. Donor Sibling Registry understands this, but they are doing what they can to make the process a bit easier. The nonprofit organization has developed a web service that can help donors connect with those conceived with their help, either anonymously or in real life.
Just about every person conceived by a sperm, egg or embryo donor can really benefit from knowing personality characteristics, medical history and any known genetic issues. This is something a lot of donors share in the beginning, but the information could change later on in life as a person finds out more. Everything can be shared anonymously through DSR, if the donor wishes to keep it that way.
The web service is increasingly used by those with a mutual desire to make contact with those who share genetic ties. Both the donor and families need to be on board for this to happen, but with over 60,000 members, it’s clear that interest is growing.
So why are people using a service like this, especially when so many donors like the anonymous aspect of it all? There are a few main reasons why.
For starters, medical and genetic issues can pop up well after a donor has provided what is needed to conceive a child. The problem is, very few clinics provide any type of updates for families once their child is conceived. That’s because they really don’t bother to even contact the sperm donor. Since they are the liaison, communication breaks down, and the valuable information may never be shared.
It works the other way as well. If an embryo donor is looking to start their own family, knowing the medical information of the children conceived from the donation can be extremely helpful.
Another reason why DSR is popular is that, throughout a child’s life, new things are explored. Why are they explored though? If a child has a passion for a sport, did the donor play a sport? These questions might not be on the mind when the child is a baby, but years later it is relevant. DSR provides a safe, anonymous way to get those answers.
Finally, there is of course the opportunity to meet, if both parties wish. Some people want to keep everything anonymous, and the organization takes every measure possible to handle that. An egg donor and the conceived child must both want a meeting for us to then share that information.
