An increasingly outspoken generation of donor offspring want to transform the dynamics of sperm donation so that the children's interests are given more importance and it becomes easier to learn about their biological fathers.
Though Britain and several other European countries have banned anonymous sperm donations, it still seems far-off in the U.S., though the voices of donor offspring are being heard more widely and clearly than ever because of internet-based social networking and other recent developments, such as the new film, "The Kids Are All Right," which depicts 2 teenage siblings who track down their sperm-donor father.
The film opened just weeks after the release of a study by the Commission on Parenthood's Future, which surveyed 485 donor offspring. The study concluded that they were more troubled and depression-prone than other young adults in comparison groups, and recommended an end to anonymous sperm donation.
An increasing number of U.S. sperm banks offer identity-release policies, in which donors agree to let their offspring contact the donor when they turn 18. But many donors still opt for anonymity.
More than 28,000 people involved in anonymous donations - offspring, parents and donors - have registered with the Donor Sibling Registry, a web-based network run out of Colorado by Wendy Kramer. She started the registry so her donor-offspring son, Ryan, could find his siblings, and she says it has helped more than 7,400 people find half-siblings and biological fathers.
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