It’s been a while since we updated everyone on the goings-on here at the DSR. A quick update:
1. We are currently putting together research papers on the 759 donor offspring, 154 sperm donors and 109 egg donor parents, that we surveyed earlier this year. This research will be peer reviewed and (hopefully!) published in academic journals.
2. We have submitted two abstracts to ASRM for presentation at their October meeting: “Anonymity, Disclosure and Contact with Donors: How Experiences of Donor Conceived Offspring Vary by Family Type” and “Semen Donors who are Open to Contact with their Offspring”. We should know by early July if the abstracts have been accepted.
3. We are about to launch a very exciting new research project in collaboration with UCSF’s Institute for Human Genetics- on nature/nurture. This study will investigate the hereditary and environmental factors that influence physical, behavioral and medical traits among relatives in the DSR. We will be sending out invitations to participate in the study within the next few days. We hope that all donors, donor conceived people and all parents (both bio and non-bio) will participate.
4. The DSR will have booths at this weekend’s Capital Pride in Washington DC and the next weekend’s Denver Pride in Colorado We will be taking to prospective parents, parents, donor conceived people and anyone who is interested in hearing about the DSR and what we do.
5. We will be speaking at July’s Genetics and Society meeting in Tarrytown NY.
6. We will be making a presentation at November’s National Council on Family Relations meeting in Minneapolis. The meeting is entitled: “Families and Innovation”.
7. We passed the 7,300 mark for people matched on the DSR. We currently have more than 27,425 donors, donor conceived people and parents on the DSR.