Number of pregnancies - more precice numbers?

Chebat

Would it be possible to know the exact number of reported pregnancies associated with a particular donor? I see they are reported as more than 5 or less than 5, but not with greater specificity. is there a particular reason for this?

Thanks in advance for any response.

cryo-admin

Hi Chebat -

We do not share the specific number of pregnancies of donors for a few reasons.

First, even though reporting outcomes is included in our contract, not all clients report back to us and we do not feel comfortable publishing a specific number that may be misleading.(We also have clients that post about their pregnancies/children on our Bulletin Boards or Facebook, but never actually officially report the outcome to us, despite our reminders to do so.) Providing the number of pregnancies, does not take into account multiple pregnancies from the same family unit, which can also be misleading.

Second, some clients feel it is a violation of their privacy to publish a specific number. Regardless of the continued anonymity, they feel the number potentially puts them in an awkward position as it compels others to look for them.

Finally, there are other avenues to gain more specific information, like the CCB Sibling Registry as well as the Donor Sibling Registry. These options provide the opportunity for families interested in more detail or contact, the chance to engage without violating the privacy of those not so inclined.

Regards,

Nicole
CCB

Chebat

I understand all of those reasons and they all make sense. Could you comment, without reference to a particular donor, what the upper range is of reported pregnancies for a single donor? Does this ever exceed, say, 50?

cryo-admin

Hi Chebat -

We consider the more relevant number to be family units. Assuming a maximum if 25-30 families, it is certainly conceivable (no pun intended) that a single donor could have 50+ offspring. However, it is rare that we reach the maximum number of families, and very unlikely that all would have multiple children.

The average CCB donor is responsible for about 15 families.

The stories in the media about sperm donors with 100 offspring are highly publicized, but really very rare and generally the result of small sperm banks or clinics that have over used their limited supply of donors. Some of the advantages of using a national bank like CCB is donor diversity, world wide distribution of our specimens (versus local users only), and the limits we place on vial collection. One of the main reasons CCB is slightly more expensive than other banks is the added operational costs of recruiting all over the country (we have donor labs in NY, LA, Boston, and the San Francisco Bay Area).

Regards,

Nicole
CCB

Chebat

That's helpful, thanks