Wishing everyone a very happy and healthy New Year.

2011 was an amazing year for the Donor Sibling Registry!

2011 Site Stats:
9,689,695 hits to the website
110,503 Unique visitors
938 more people matched!

We now have more than 34,928 people on the DSR
More than 8,964 of those have matched. Many people match on the site without
posting, so our numbers are always very conservative.

In 2011 we re-wrapped the front end of the DSR website into a new content
management system so that it looks more updated and functions better. We will
continue to upgrade the DSR’s website through 2012.

Published Papers:
We published two papers in the journal Human Reproduction in 2011:
Offspring searching for their sperm donors: how family type shapes the process
and Sperm and Egg donors’ experiences of donating and of being contacted by
their donor offspring. All research can be read on the “Research” page of the
DSR.

Some 2011 Media Highlights:
The DSR initiated and was featured in quite a bit of media from September
through December 2011. We produced a tv pilot that has been aired 31 times so
far, on 2 networks. (A link is on the DSR’s homepage). Also, appearances on
Sirius radio, NPR, The Today Show, The Doctors, Anderson Cooper, and our big
Science Section front page story on the NY Times that many papers around the
world picked up. See the “News” page on the DSR for a full list and the “Video”
page to watch.

2011 Speaking Engagements:
The 14th World Conference on Human Reproduction: Plenary talk, Merck Serono
Symposia presentation, and a talk at the Donor Linking Symposium in Melbourne
Australia
The Single Mothers by Choice 30th Anniversary Gala, NYC
Webinar for the Embryo Adoption Awareness Center
The 2nd International Congress on Controversies in Cryo-preservation of Stem
Cells, Reproductive Cells, Tissue & Organs (CRYO), Spain. Two abstracts were
presented: The case for comprehensive medical testing of gamete donors and Semen
donors who are open to contact with their offspring.
Fertility 2011, Dublin, Ireland. British Fertility Society, et al. Two abstracts
wee presented: 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.

Our Goals for 2012:
To further expand media coverage of the donor-conceived community’s issues; to
initiate academic partnerships for research and outreach; to continue outreach
to encourage self-regulation of the fertility industry and to continue
facilitating family connections. We’ll continue looking for outside funding
possibilities, to support our growing website/database needs. We will continue
to think and dialog deeply, rigorously and critically about how to move the
infertility industry forward in a more responsible manner- considering the needs
and rights of donor conceived people.

Fairfax Cryobank and Cryogenic Labs (CLI) are still refusing to give former sperm donors and adult donor conceived people access to their donor numbers. This prohibits families from making mutual consent contact. This prohibits the sharing of medical and genetic infotmation amongst genetic relatives. This takes away the opportunity from many donors who were never properly educated or counseled about donor anonymity, from changing their minds and reaching out to make mutual consent contact with the children they helped to create.

As we wonder why….it is very clear that this has nothing to do with what is in the best interests of the former donors, or the children born from donor insemination, it is only serving the best interests of the sperm bank itself. More donors just might find out that they to have more than 150 donor offspring. More offspring just might learn that they have many half siblings, some who have tried to report medical issues to the sperm banks. This is an effort by the sperm banking industry to keep information like this from becoming public. This industry desperately needs oversight, transparency, accurate record keeping, and a code of ethics.

From a Fairfax/CLI Representative:

“We can provide the customer who purchased the vials the donor number if they do not know it. We do not provide donor number’s to any children born from a donor. If the donor was an anonymous donor, we will not assist any offspring trying to make contact with the donor. The donor’s also do not get to know their numbers.”