Resources

We Are Donor Conceived
Donor conceived people around the world can share their perspectives on topics relevant to our community, connect with each other, and find support using this Facebook group, which also acts as a newsfeed for site-related content, including photos, stories, resources, and news updates.

Donor Conceived Offspring, Donors, Parents
DNA for the Donor Conceived (a subgroup of DNA Detectives)
Worldwide Donor Conceived People Network
Friends of Donor Conceived Individuals
Gen Z Donor Conceived People

PEER SUPPORT

Donor Conceived Community offers a variety of peer support groups, including groups for parents via donor conception, LGBTQIA+ DCP, and advocacy.

ONLINE REGISTRIES

Donor Sibling Registry (membership fees apply)
California Cryobank Sibling Registry

DOCUMENTARIES

Donor Unknown
This moving documentary feature follows JoEllen Marsh’s search for her sperm donor father who she only knows as Donor 150. When JoEllen discovers a unique online registry that connects donor-conceived children, she manages to track down a half sister in New York. Soon, The New York Times picks up the story and 12 more half-siblings emerge across the United States. WATCH ON VIMEO ($)

Offspring
After discovering that he may have almost 200 half brothers and sisters, Canadian filmmaker Barry Stevens sets out to find the anonymous man who created him and his many siblings. WATCH ON VIMEO

Father Mother Donor Child
Third party reproduction has become a relatively common means of reproduction. In this documentary film, Maria Arlamovsky talks to the children, donors, and parents affected by it. WATCH ON VIMEO ($)

Anonymous Father’s Day
Thousands of donor-conceived people have a deep longing to know who they belong to, where they come from, and who they look like. What is it like to grow up not knowing who your biological father is or if you have any siblings? Anonymous Father’s Day explores these questions through interviews with donor-conceived adults. WATCH ON VIMEO ($)

Sperm Donors Anonymous
This Australian documentary explores the effects of anonymous sperm donation on donor conceived children, their families and the donors themselves. The trailer (and some web extras) are available here, as well as a link to buy the film on DVD.

BOOKS

The Lost Family: How DNA Testing is Upending Who We Are
Journalist Libby Copeland investigates the consequences and unexpected results of direct to consumer DNA testing.

Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love
Shapiro explores ethical questions surrounding fertility treatments and DNA testing and the secrets we keep out of love.

Scattered Seeds
With empathy and in-depth analysis, journalist and writer Jacqueline Mroz writes about the growth of sperm donation and assisted reproduction and how it affects donor conceived offspring, recipients, and sperm donors. BUY ON AMAZON

Go Ask Your Father: One Man’s Obsession with Finding His Origins Through DNA Testing
Every family has a secret. But what if that secret makes you question your own place in the family? Mixing equal parts memoir, detective story, and popular-science narrative, this is the emotionally charged account of Lennard Davis’ quest to find out the truth about his genetic heritage–and confront the agonizing possibility of having to redefine the first fifty years of his life. BUY ON AMAZON (Lennard’s story was also featured on an episode of This American Life)

The Genius Factory
In this eye-opening book, David Plotz investigates The Repository for Germinal Choice–nicknamed the Nobel Prize sperm bank, which supposedly had a roster of Nobel-laureate scientists, mathematical prodigies, successful businessmen, and star athlete sperm donors. BUY ON AMAZON

Experiences of Donor Conception: Parents, Offspring and Donors through the Years
This thought-provoking and informative book explores the process of donor conception, including in-depth consideration of the emotional and ethical issues involved. BUY ON AMAZON

Who Am I?: Experiences of Donor Conception
Three adult offspring conceived by donor insemination share their experiences. Dr Alexina McWhinnie, a social researcher who has worked extensively in the area of assisted conception, reflects further on their stories and those of other donor-conceived adults. BUY ON AMAZON

Relative Strangers: Family Life, Genes and Donor Conception
With reproductive medical technologies becoming more accessible, assisted donor conception is raising new and important questions about family life. Using in-depth interviews the authors explore the lived reality of donor conception and offer insights into the complexities of these new family relationships. BUY ON AMAZON

OP-EDS

A Family Portrait: Brothers, Sisters, Strangers
The New York Times, June 2019

What happened when I told my adult daughter she was conceived with a donor egg
Washington Post, September 2018

I Took the 23andMe Test and it Changed Everything I Thought I Knew about Myself and my Family Gin & Zin, August 2017 (also read Part 2 and Part 3)

This Is What Happened When I Discovered I Have 22 Siblings
Teen Vogue, January 2016

What It’s Like to Find Your 17 Sperm Donor Siblings on the Internet
Vice, July 2016

12 Sperm Donor Kids On What It’s Like Growing Up Without Knowing Your Biological Father At All
Thought Catalog, October 2015

My Father Was an Anonymous Sperm Donor
Washington Post, December 2006

TV/VIDEO

Insight: Sperm Donation

Sperm donor dad bonds with the kids he never knew he had

Experiences of Donor Conception

Anonymity of egg and sperm donors

PODCASTS/AUDIO

You Look Like Me
Donor conceived journalist Louise McLoughlin explores the secrets, discoveries, and lives of donor conceived people in this podcast series.

DIBS: Welcome to the Family
This podcast created by a donor-conceived person raised by two moms explores our culture’s evolving understanding of family.

Half of Me
Ally and her donor-conceived siblings talk about being sperm donor conceived, digging into DNA, and redefining family.

What if you uncovered the family secret?
This is Actually Happening, October 2018

Finding my real dad
BBC Radio 4, September 2018

I’m not looking to be a father
BBC Radio 4, September 2018

Hi, You’re My Donor Dad
KQED News, July 2018

Go Ask Your Father
This American Life, May 2005

The right to information for donor conceived people: In conversation with Damon Martin
Podsocs, December 2012

Debating donor conception 10 years after the removal of anonymity
Pod Academy, November 2015

A New Openness For Donor Kids About Their Biology
NPR, September 2011

Donor-Conceived Children Seek Missing Identities
NPR, September 2011

Genius Sperm
Snap Judgment, 2014

PERSONAL BLOGS

Confessions of a Cryokid

Sperm Donor Offspring

Abandoned by Default

Conception of Self

Inconceivable Diaries

Patriotic Lovers (See posts titled This is Us, DNA Detective, Happy Father’s Day)

NEWS STORIES

Meet the second generation of children being born through sperm donations
ABC News Australia, June 2019

The Man With 17 Kids (And Counting)
The Atlantic, June 2019

‘The broken promise of anonymity’?
Genetic Literacy Project, April 2019

At 13 My Parents Told Me I Was A Sperm Donor Baby
Grazia Daily, February 2019

For donor-conceived people, data about biological parents can be critical
NJ Spotlight, February 2019

I’m the result of a secret sperm concoction
New York Post, January 2019

In the 23andMe era, kids of sperm donors are finding each other
Fast Company, September 2018

The Jarring Experience of Learning You Were Conceived With Donor Sperm or Eggs
Tonic (Vice), September 2018

Dear Anonymous Dad
World Magazine, September 2018

Lifting the veil of secrecy around donor conception
The Canberra Times, September 2018

Law ending sperm donor secrecy helps Australian find her dad
AP, August 2018

Has the age of the anonymous sperm donor ended?
Ottawa Citizen, June 2018

Genetic testing and family secrets
American Psychological Association, June 2018

Finding the Lost Generation of Sperm Donors
The Atlantic, May 2018

Donor-conceived people are tracking down their biological fathers, even if they want to hide
CBC, August 2018

She took DNA test to get health information. She found 3 half siblings
Sacramento Bee, September 2017
Jaclyn also wrote about her experience on her blog. Read part one here.

The Ambiguity of “Open” Sperm Donation
Huffington Post, November, 2016

Sperm donors may want anonymity, but there are real kids out there
The Guardian, August 2015

The Unregulated Sperm Industry
New York Times, November 2013

A Conception Conundrum
Psychology Today, November 2013

My father, sperm donor 150
The Guardian, May 2011

One Sperm Donor, 150 Offspring
New York Times, September 2011

Donor-Conceived Children Demand Rights
Newsweek, February 2011

The Sperm-Donor Kids Are Not Really All Right
Slate, June 2010

Donor Babies Search for Their Anonymous Fathers
Houston Press, November 2008

Donated Generation
The New Atlantis, Summer 2008

Confessions of A Sperm Donor
ABC News, August, 2006

RESEARCH AND ACADEMIC PAPERS

Sperm donor anonymity: a concept rendered obsolete by modern technology
Fertility and Sterility, December 2017
The use of donor sperm began as a medical practice with a level of secrecy bordering on shame. In the United States, donor sperm insemination was first performed by Dr. William Pancoast in 1884 at Thomas Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia. READ MORE

Who Requests Their Sperm Donor’s Identity?
Fertility and Sterility, February 2017
Research into the first ten years of information releases to adults with open-identity donors reveals that 92.9% of requests come from 18- to 21-year-olds, which suggests that adults often request this information soon after they are eligible to receive it. READ MORE

Emerging models for facilitating contact between people genetically related through donor conception: a preliminary analysis and discussion
Reproductive and Biomedicine Society Online, 2015
This paper provides illustrative examples of initiatives in different parts of the world that use voluntary routes to respond to the growing phenomenon of people genetically related through donor conception seeking information and/or contact. READ MORE

Donor conceived offspring conceive of the donor: The relevance of age, awareness, and family form
Social Science & Medicine, 2013
Findings of this in-depth paper include: most DC offspring (83%) want to contact the donor, 46% of those with an anonymous donor say someone should not donate unless he is willing to be known, and 21% of DC offspring say that they experience a form of dissonance, where other people do not understand their feelings about donor conception. READ MORE

Building a Family Tree: Donor-Conceived People, DNA Tracing and Donor ‘Anonymity’
Research Gate, 2013
This paper examines the tracing of genealogical lineage, family, history and kinship by donor conceived people, including the use of DNA testing as a tool to find genetic relatives and the issues of privacy, confidentiality and anonymity of those who donated gametes that may arise. READ MORE

My Daddy’s Name is Donor: A New Study of Young Adults Conceived Through Sperm Donation
This robust research study is the first to explore identity, kinship, wellbeing, and social justice experiences of young adults conceived through sperm donation. READ MORE

Autonomous Choice and the Right to Know One’s Genetic Origins
The Hastings Center, 2014
In this rebuttal article, Vardit Ravitsky argues when the right to know one’s genetic origins is violated, donor-conceived individuals are deprived of the liberty to choose what meaning they assign to the genetic components of their identity. READ MORE

Donor-conceived children looking for their sperm donor: what do they want to know?
Bioethics Institute Ghent, Department of Philosophy and Moral Sciences, 2013
This paper aims to gain in-depth understanding of why some donor-conceived offspring want to know the identity of their sperm donor. READ MORE

A systematic review of sperm donors: demographic characteristics, attitudes, motives and experiences of the process of sperm donation
Human Reproduction Update, 2012
This review aimed to integrate the current body of knowledge on the demographic, institutional and psychosocial information on current and potential sperm donors. READ MORE

An overview on ethical issues about sperm donation
Asian Journal of Andrology, 2009
This paper attempts to present an overview of findings concerning the ethics of sperm donation. The following topics are considered: limiting the number of donor offspring; minimizing risk of infection and genetics from sperm donors; age requirements for sperm donors; and anonymity versus non-anonymity of sperm donors. READ MORE

A Critical Analysis of Sperm Donation Practices: The Personal and Social Effects of Disrupting the Unity of Biological and Social Relatedness for the Offspring
Queensland University of Technology, 2009
This thesis, written by Joanna Rose (a donor conceived person) explores sperm donation from a child-centered perspective. READ MORE

Revealing Your Sources: The Case for NonAnonymous Gamete Donation
Cleveland State University Journal of Law and Health, 2008
This research study explores anonymous gamete donation. Among the conclusions: “Anonymous gamete donation should come to an end, and donor-conceived children should have the right to access identifying information about their gamete donors. It is in the best interests of all the parties involved.” READ MORE

Secretly Connected? Anonymous Semen Donation, Genetics, and Meaning of Kinship
University of Edinburgh, 2007
Jennifer Spears’ PhD thesis is based on a series of interviews with medical practitioners and health professionals currently or formerly working in clinics providing DI services in the UK, and men who donated semen between the 1960s and early 1980s. READ MORE

Adolescents with open-identity sperm donors: reports from 12–17 year olds and Choosing identity‐release sperm donors: the parents’ perspective 13–18 years later
Human Reproduction Update, 2003
Donor insemination programs can include “open-identity” sperm donors, who are willing to release their identities to adult offspring. These two reports include findings from adolescent offspring who have open-identity donors and their parents. READ MORE HERE and HERE

Gamete Donation and Anonymity: Disclosure to children conceived with donor gametes should not be optional
Human Reproduction, 2001
The current wisdom is that adopted children should be told by their parents as early as possible that the family was created through adoption, and we argue that the same model should apply to the use of donor gametes. READ MORE

Missing links: identity issues of donor conceived people
This paper by Geraldine Hewitt was written while she was a student at the University of Sydney. The research on which the paper is based was conducted in 2001 for a high school project. READ MORE

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