Sperm Donor Banks (& egg donation centers) are the worlds gift to many folks who are trying to have a baby. Some smart people got together many many years ago and decided "I've got it! Why don't we let folks who have tons of sperm to spare give it to a center, like a bank, and people can buy it when they need it!" GENIUS IDEA! And to you folks that were in the Board room, I thank you! Anyhow....
Selecting sperm from a donation bank is the equivalent of literally being the candy store that provides you every little detail on every piece of candy you might want. It's so fascinating. You have the option to select height, eye color, hair color AND texture, ethnicity, education, review their familial history, medical history, grade point average, career choice, their likes and dislikes, see childhood pics, and the list goes on... I joked with my wife that perhaps selection a life partner should be as invasive and detailed as sperm selection is. Though, who knows; the way technology is going, perhaps there will be options to only meet folks in such manners.... hmmmmmm.
We had some standard criteria we wanted to make sure that our donor had... features and education similar to me (Laz) since we will be getting the wonderful genetics of Sujey through the egg retrieval process for the making of our little embryo. The added bonus was the we could surf through these individual's essays about themselves; value-based descriptions on who they would want to meet dead or alive; what lessons they would want their actual children to carry forward from them; person they are closest to & why; and, other minor things that really didn't mean much in the grand scope of things. At one point, Sujey and I were literally playing jeopardy with the donor options we had. We'd quiz each other a wide variety of topics (including family medical history, hair texture, current profession, favorite sports, and the categories go on...).
Nonetheless, we have chosen the winning donor that best suits us and meets most of our selection needs. Are we nervous about what the outcome could be? of course! Was it a hard decision? Not as much as we thought it would be. Are we scared that our child will one day want to know who/what contributed to their awesome self? A lil bit. Will we will ever call the sperm donor our child's "dad"? ABSOLUTELY NOT! The job of the donor is to do just that... DONATE. This individual has allowed for us to create our beautiful family, acknowledging that WE will be the parents... Mom2. Our child will have two of the most wonderful, empowering, beautiful, and amazing mommies in the universe with the greatest support network of male role-models this world could provide...that won't be called dad! We're excited and looking forward to what's yet to come... until then, step 136,234,999 COMPLETE! Thank you donor # 13017. Next...
