#1. "RE: Boy tracks his sperm donor father........" In response to Ed W. (Reply # 0) Wed Nov-02-05 07:50 PM by Shelly
I have mixed feelings about such anonymity. It could be important for a child to know the identity of both parents for information about the medical history of both families. If the fathers family in this case had a medical history of diabetes or certain forms of cancer, the lack of this information could be life threatening. I really don't see how an 18 year gaining this type of information is a threat in any way to the sperm donor. Any donor would be very selfish in my opinion to not want to share such information.
#2. "RE: Boy tracks his sperm donor father........" In response to Shelly (Reply # 1)
Good point.
The article speaks of ethical responsibilities, but that could be a two-way street. Do we know that health screening of donors is (or more importantly was twenty years ago) as thorough as it should be?
Without actually searching them out, I'm pretty sure I've heard of cases where such genetic information has been important.
#3. "RE: Boy tracks his sperm donor father........" In response to Shelly (Reply # 1)
That is one of the large concerns I have had on this issue. Another is that there is no guarantee that future son and future daughter will some future day be future husband and wife. No one knows for sure where the donations will finally end up, as money easily corrupts projects like this.
One of the current things going in genealogy is the use of DNA testing to connect certain wide ranging families that share connections in their genes. It is still in it's infancy, but many more people are trying to get *cousins* to become part of a surname project. It isn't cheap and the results are uncertain at this time.
#5. "RE: Boy tracks his sperm donor father........" In response to Ed W. (Reply # 3)
Ed, I don't think that the results of DNA testing in genealogical research is all that uncertain. Many people have confirmed "paper trail" research with Mitrochondrial and Y chromosome results, sometimes it's even more useful in discounting people from your research. I've found two families (same surname) related to my paternal family with Y chromosome results, one now in Wales and the other now in Australia although all three families were in the same area of Yorkshire in the early 1700s. We've not yet found the actual connections although we know that they are there somewhere.
#4. "RE: Boy tracks his sperm donor father........" In response to Ed W. (Reply # 0)
very interesting article. I'm happy for the 15-yr old, as he went to great lengths to find the information and was successful in the end. I just hope he doesn't regret his quest after he meets his father.
