Man Not Included

The New York Times had an article this morning about children of sperm donors trying to connect with their siblings. There is a national registry which provides a place for discovery. There are over 5000 individuals looking for a sister or a brother who share the same father, but have a different mother.

There is also a service that started in the UK, which is now in the US, that is a sperm bank, primarily for lesbians and other singles who want to have children. The company is called Man Not Included.

What would motivate a man to donate his sperm? The obvious answer is money. Donors are paid for their sperm. Banks typically pay men between $100 to $150 for a vial, according to the Times. Most men who donate are probably thinking of picking up a quick buck and not thinking about the consequences. Recipients pay 5 to 10 times more for the sperm.

If a man donated regularly, he could have hundreds of children. Imagine the potential confusion and complications for the children.

There is so much talk today about the needs of "the children." What is odd is that many of the very groups that are the leading advocates of children, are also the ones that support a "man not included" world.

We are designed with a desire to have a relationship with our father, as well as our mothers. Maybe we have gotten to this point in our culture because men have been missing in the lives of their children long before fathers were sperm donors only. I am not sure that there is that much difference between Donor 154 and a father who has been absent for most of the life of his child.