How to find donor siblings

Recent estimates show that between 8-14 thousand children are born each year as a result of egg donation and 30,000 are born as a result of sperm donation! The probability that there are 1/2 siblings born to other families is very high. The issue then becomes how to connect?

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Things You’ll Need:

• Clinic or Facility Info
• Donor Number and/or Description

1. Call the facility where the egg/sperm were donated. This could be directly through the physician you used, an agency or a bank. Ask them if there were any other siblings born via this donor. Find out the amount of time the donor has donated if sperm or the # of times the egg donor has donated. You may not get much information this route but any little bit helps. It is also wise to call periodically. You never know what information the next person will offer or if policies change. Make sure the bank is aware of the birth of your child. You can write a letter asking they include it in the file and give them the ok to share your info with any other parents who call for the same reason. At the present time, they are very unlikely to give out this information but in the future, this may change and you want your information there.
2. Register your donor information with www.donoroffspringmatches.com. This is a free online connection registry where egg donors, sperm donors, offspring and parents of DC children can voluntarily enter their information. The more people who register, the more likely there will be matches made.
3. And now the wait begins! If you are lucky, you may find a match right away. In the meantime, seriously evaluate how you will handle the possible email claiming 'I AM A MATCH!'. This is a very exciting and terrifying moment for most people!

Tips & Warnings

• Be Patient! People are learning of the registry everyday and more and more people register.
• Remember to contact the facility more than once. You never know what difference a year makes.
• Spread the word about the registry. Again, the more people that register, the more connections can be made.
• Never give out too much personal information on a registry. These are viewable by the public. Keep your email address up to date so you can be reached in the event of a match.