Random Families


Book Description

The ready availability of donated sperm and eggs has made possible an entirely new form of family. Children of the same donor and their families, with the help of the internet, can now locate each other and make contact. Sometimes this network of families form meaningful connections that blossom into longstanding groups, and close friendships. This book is about unprecedented families that have grown up at the intersection of new reproductive technologies, social media and the human desire for belonging. Random Families asks: Do shared genes make you a family? What do couples do when they discover that their children shares half their DNA with a dozen or more other offspring from the same sperm donor? What do kids find in common with their donor siblings? What becomes of these chance networks once parents and donor siblings find one another? Based on over 350 interviews with children (ages 10-28) and their parents from all over the U.S., Random Families chronicles the chain of choices that couples and single mothers make from what donor to use to how to participate (or not) in donor sibling networks. Children reveal their understanding of a donor, the donor's spot on the family tree and the meaning of their donor siblings. Through rich first-person accounts of network membership, the book illustrates how these extraordinary relationships -- woven from bits of online information and shared genetic ties -- are transformed into new possibilities for kinship. Random Families offers down-to-earth stories from real families to highlight just how truly distinctive these contemporary new forms of family are.




Why Don't I Have a Daddy?


Book Description

As the little lion cub notices all different types of families, he starts to question his own family. His family consists of his mother and him. The little cub learns that while there is no "daddy" in his family, there is a donor lion who made his life possible. Through his mother's love and nurturing, the lion cub understands how special he and his family are. This book, winner of the Mom's Choice Silver Award for children's picture books, presents the basic facts of anonymous donor conception in a simple but loving manner. By reading this story with a child who was conceived through the help of an anonymous donor, the child will start learning about and understanding his or her family and his or her origins, just as the lion cub does in the story. The delightful illustrations of various animals and their families make the subject accessible to small children. It is a book you can share with your child over the years, and with each reading your child will gain more insight and appreciation for his or her family - for his or her own special story.




Buying Dad


Book Description

Harlyn Aizley takes the reader on one of the most personal, intimate and utterly female journeys any woman, gay or straight, can make - that of becoming a mother. Aizley's story begins with the search for sperm. The journey unfolds within the context of her relationship with her female partner, her mother's cancer diagnosis, the threat of her own possible infertility, and finally pregnancy itself. Aizley's wry voice and candid prose embrace this confluence of major life events with humour and wisdom.




Your DNA Guide - the Book


Book Description

You don't have to learn everything about genetic genealogy before asking specific questions of your DNA! That's the premise of Diahan Southard's brand new book, Your DNA Guide - the Book, now available for pre-order at a special sale price. Your DNA Guide - the Book is like no other genetic genealogy book on the market. Instead of learning more-than-you-need-to-know in textbook style, you'll choose a specific DNA question to start exploring right away. You'll follow concrete step-by-step plans, learning important DNA concepts--in plain English--as you go. Do you want to learn who your 2X great grandmother is? Turn to page 23. Do you want to know how you are related to one of your DNA matches? Page 37. As you proceed, you check your progress and get new guidance based on your specific results at each stage. (Including troubleshooting, like when your matches just aren't responding or your great-grandparents turn out to be first cousins.) This powerful, hands-on approach is based on Diahan's 20 years of experience in the genetic genealogy industry and especially in the past five years, as she helps clients one-on-one make DNA discoveries. It became clear to her that while each client's situation may be unique, there are patterns in how you can find solutions that you can apply yourself. Your DNA Guide - the Book is for anyone who has taken a DNA test or may want to. It helps genealogists reconstruct family trees. It helps adoptees identify biological relatives. It can help you identify a specific DNA match. In short, it helps anyone explore what their DNA--and their DNA matches--can tell them about their origins.




The Future of Human Reproduction


Book Description

ISSUES IN BIOMEDICAL ETHICS; General Editors: John Harris, University of Manchester; Soren Holm, University of Copenhagen.; Consulting Editor: Ranaan Gillon, Director, Imperial College Health Service, London.; North American Consulting Editor: Bonnie Steinbock, Professor of Philosophy, SUNY, Albany.; The late twentieth century has witnessed dramatic technological developments in biomedical science and the delivery of health care, and these developments have brought with them important social changes. All too often ethical analysis has lagged behind these changes. The purpose of this series is to provide lively, up-to-date, and authoritative studies for the increasingly large and diverse readership concerned with issues in biomedical ethics-not just healthcare trainees and professionals, but also social scientists, philosophers, lawyers, social workers, and legislators. The series will feature both single-author and multi-author books, short and accessible enough to be widely read, each of them focused on an issue of outstanding current importance and interest. Philosophers, doctors, and lawyers from several countries already feature among the authors lined up for the series. It promises to become the leading channel for the best original work in this burgeoning field.; This volume: The Future of Human Reproduction brings together new work, by an international group of contributors from various fields and perspectives, on ethical, social, and legal issues raised by recent advances in reproductive technology. These advances have put us in a position to choose what kinds of children and parents there should be; the aim of the essays is to illuminate how we should deal with these possibilities for choice. Topics discussed include gender and race selection, genetic engineering, fertility treatment, ovarian tissue transfer, and post-menopausal pregnancy. The central focus of the volume is the interface between reproductive choice and public regulation.; 'The Future of Human Reproduction is a roadmap for twenty-first century reproductive technologies written by leading thinkers in the field for philosophers, policy makers, and clinicians. However, it will perhaps be equally useful for parents and other members of our most important social institutions, as we struggle to cope with the rapidly changing reproductive horizon.




The Pea That Was Me


Book Description

The Pea That Was Me is a charming introduction to sperm donation for kids of single moms by choice for children ages 3 and up. In a positive and upbeat way, children are told about it takes a sperm and an egg to make "a little pea", that grows into baby, and then becomes a little boy or girl. Emphasis is on how much the child was wanted, and how grateful mommy is to the "very kind donor" who helped make it all possible.




Scattered Seeds


Book Description

As typical as donor-conceived children have become, with at least a million such children in the US alone, their experiences are still unusual in many ways. In Scattered Seeds, journalist and writer Jacqueline Mroz looks at the growth of sperm donation and assisted reproduction and how it affects the children who are born, the women who buy and use the sperm to have kids, and the sperm donors who donate their genetic material to help others procreate. With empathy and in-depth analysis, Scattered Seeds explores the sociology, psychology, and anthropology surrounding those connected with fertility procedures today and looks back at the history that brought us to this point. The personal stories in this book will put a human face on the issues and help to illuminate this country's controversial and troubling unregulated fertility industry-an industry that has been compared to the Wild, Wild West, where anything goes. What is the human cost of our country's unregulated fertility industry? How are the lives of sperm-donor families changed? Scattered Seeds will answer those questions, considering carefully the social and psychological dynamics surrounding those connected with fertility procedures today.




The Genius Factory


Book Description

This is the inside, never-before-told story of the Nobel Prize sperm bank, the most radical experiment in human breeding in U.S. history. More than 200 children were born from this sperm bank between 1980-1999. It is also the story of the extraordinary meetings between the children and their donor fathers.




From Chance to Choice


Book Description

This book, written by four internationally renowned bioethicists and first published in 2000, was the first systematic treatment of the fundamental ethical issues underlying the application of genetic technologies to human beings. Probing the implications of the remarkable advances in genetics, the authors ask how should these affect our understanding of distributive justice, equality of opportunity, the rights and obligations as parents, the meaning of disability, and the role of the concept of human nature in ethical theory and practice. The book offers a historical context to contemporary debate over the use of these technologies by examining the eugenics movement of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The questions raised in this book will be of interest to any reflective reader concerned about science and society and the rapid development of biotechnology, as well as to professionals in such areas as philosophy, bioethics, medical ethics, health management, law, and political science.




Sperm Donor = Dad


Book Description

TICK TOCK GOES THE BIOLOGICAL CLOCK When Cheryl's biological clock goes from a gentle tick-tock to a grandfather-clock BONG, BONG, she decides it's time to take action. This lighthearted tale is the true story of a single, straight woman who wants to have a baby but is tired of waiting for Mr. Right. When she decides to use an anonymous sperm donor, the result is a sometimes harrowing, sometimes hilarious journey as Cheryl raises her son by herself. When they stumble upon a way to locate the "anonymous" donor and some of her son's half-siblings, it results in a brand new 21st century family, rich with possibilities. This book gives the reader a personal peek into the process of donor insemination, and not just from Cheryl's point of view. Her son and one of his siblings share their own observations. A chapter from the donor's perspective takes you behind the closed doors of a sperm bank and answers the question, "Why would a guy want to donate sperm?" Sperm Donor = Dad will tickle your funny bone and touch your heart.