Twenty years ago, I was a sperm donor. My motivation then was entirely financial — I was paid the kingly sum of $50/donation. Since then, I’ve rarely given it a thought. A year ago, I received word that one of my offspring, a woman of 19, wanted to get in touch with me. My wife gave me her blessing. So I did, and it turned out to be a wonderful thing.
Author: ASRM News and Research
The Donor Talk: When Kids Have a Sperm Donor
All three of our kids were conceived using sperm from the same anonymous open donor. We had a lot of reasons for choosing our donor, ranging from the frivolous (like me, his favorite sports team is the Red Sox and he loves mint chocolate chip ice cream), to the more practical, such as traits we hoped would make way into our kids (intelligent, artistic, and athletic). Ultimately, we chose our particular donor because he sounded a lot like me, physically and in terms of personality. Even though I knew my kids would not be genetically related to me, I was hoping I might see myself in their eyes if I chose a donor similar to me.
How Silicon Valley Will Replace Condoms
Male birth control, like death, is always just around the corner. In 2014, the hope was that Vasalgel, a non-hormonal polymer gel that can be injected into the vas deferens, would hit the market by 2017. But the Parsemus Foundation, the non-profit organization funding Vasalgel, has since revised that projection to 2018, pending successful human trials and “public support.”
Missouri State Appeals Court to Decide Fate of Divorced Couple’s Frozen Embryos
The Missouri State Court of Appeals will decide whether a divorced woman has the right to implant two embryos she and her ex-husband had frozen nine years ago.
It Turns Out It’s Really Tough to ‘Disrupt’ Childbirth
Cutting the high cost and heartache of in-vitro fertilization isn’t as easy as Silicon Valley thought. Progyny, a startup that bills itself as “the Uber of fertility” as it touts new tactics and technologies to democratize the $10 billion-a-year IVF industry, has been forced to flip its strategy over the past six months in a bid to keep itself alive — and on the right side of health regulators, according to an investigation by The Post.
Feds Remind States That Medicaid Can Cover Costs of Contraception, Bug Spray to Prevent Zika Infections
Federal regulators are telling state Medicaid programs that they may cover mosquito repellent and condoms to prevent the spread of Zika — guidance that drew praise from public health officials, but might not result in much change for low-income residents enrolled in the public health insurance programs.
Doctors Talk About Myth that Birth Control Causes Infertility
Sixty two percent of women between the ages of 15 and 44 use some form of birth control, whether that’s a pill, or something like an intrauterine device (IUD). That’s according to Dr. Laurie Birkholz, a women’s health physician at Lakeshore Health Partners. Not only is contraception a way to prevent unwanted pregnancy, it helps women plan when they want to have a child. It can even help with things like acne and heavy bleeding. While contraceptives are meant to prevent pregnancy while in use, some say they’re flat out causing infertility.
Greater Fertility Care Options Becoming Available for US Veterans
Historically, men and women who are currently serving or who have previously served in the United States military have limited treatment options when it comes to infertility resulting from service-related injury. Several organizations, including CNY Fertility Centers and Congress, have been pushing for new, free care options for men and women seeking infertility care.
Third Baby Born in U.S. Shows Defect Tied to Zika Virus
A baby with Zika-linked microcephaly remained hospitalized in northern New Jersey on Wednesday with the first such birth defect case in the Northeast and the third in the nation, officials at Hackensack University Medical Center confirmed.
The Netherlands OKs Growing Human Embryos for Research
Amid the furor raised by reports that American scientists are raising chimeras, or half-human, half-animal embryos, another country gave approval on Friday for researchers to grow human embryos. The reason why the Dutch government allowed scientists to grow human embryos is that the country’s limited supply of leftover embryos from in vitro patients is fast depleting. However, the government said the human embryos could only be used for study in a limited number of fields, reports Reuters.