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View Full Version : Do you have 800 siblings?


GeorgeParker
2-3-21, 1:01pm
According to this New York Times article, some sperm donors have fathered up to 800 children by repeatedly donating sperm at multiple fertility clinics. https://nl.nytimes.com/f/newsletter/llPad5G9emxfAEklqTg_Aw~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRh-75YP0TfaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnl0aW1lcy5jb20vMjAyMS8wMi8 wMS9oZWFsdGgvc3Blcm0tZG9ub3ItZmVydGlsaXR5LW1laWplc i5odG1sP2NhbXBhaWduX2lkPTkmZW1jPWVkaXRfbm5fMjAyMTA yMDImaW5zdGFuY2VfaWQ9MjY2NTgmbmw9dGhlLW1vcm5pbmcmc mVnaV9pZD05OTc5MzM4MCZzZWdtZW50X2lkPTUwODAyJnRlPTE mdXNlcl9pZD0xYTliMjFmOWUzYjFiNzU5ZmM1YjFmMzg3ZDgyY 2Q0N1cDbnl0QgpgEVg5GWDVwyFfUhZtc290bTE5NTlqY2dAZ21 haWwuY29tWAQAAAAA

Mothers are now worried their children may have 50 or more half-siblings living in the same town and may fall in love without knowing they're related. In the worst case, the donor estimated he had fathered 800 children in various countries.

I foresee a big boom in "23 And Me" and other DNA test companies.

And you thought you had sibling problems!
bae
2-3-21, 1:05pm
Try living in Iceland :-)

https://theculturetrip.com/europe/iceland/articles/iceland-is-so-small-theres-an-app-that-keeps-icelanders-from-dating-their-relatives/
Yppej
2-3-21, 1:20pm
I married someone born in another country with different ethnicity to avoid this problem and my child has no issues caused by similar genetics in his parents.
razz
2-3-21, 3:07pm
Try living in Iceland :-)

https://theculturetrip.com/europe/iceland/articles/iceland-is-so-small-theres-an-app-that-keeps-icelanders-from-dating-their-relatives/

Knowing about their limited population, I had wondered how they could prevent inbreeding for lack of a better phrase. Clever use of the app.
rosarugosa
2-3-21, 5:25pm
According to this New York Times article, some sperm donors have fathered up to 800 children by repeatedly donating sperm at multiple fertility clinics. https://nl.nytimes.com/f/newsletter/llPad5G9emxfAEklqTg_Aw~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRh-75YP0TfaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnl0aW1lcy5jb20vMjAyMS8wMi8 wMS9oZWFsdGgvc3Blcm0tZG9ub3ItZmVydGlsaXR5LW1laWplc i5odG1sP2NhbXBhaWduX2lkPTkmZW1jPWVkaXRfbm5fMjAyMTA yMDImaW5zdGFuY2VfaWQ9MjY2NTgmbmw9dGhlLW1vcm5pbmcmc mVnaV9pZD05OTc5MzM4MCZzZWdtZW50X2lkPTUwODAyJnRlPTE mdXNlcl9pZD0xYTliMjFmOWUzYjFiNzU5ZmM1YjFmMzg3ZDgyY 2Q0N1cDbnl0QgpgEVg5GWDVwyFfUhZtc290bTE5NTlqY2dAZ21 haWwuY29tWAQAAAAA

Mothers are now worried their children may have 50 or more half-siblings living in the same town and may fall in love without knowing they're related. In the worst case, the donor estimated he had fathered 800 children in various countries.

I foresee a big boom in "23 And Me" and other DNA test companies.

And you thought you had sibling problems!

Wow, I'm all for siblings, but 800 is definitely too much of a good thing!
Gardnr
2-3-21, 5:50pm
I've wondered about this from the beginning of donors as well as adoption. My brother adopted all 3 of his children. 2 were in the local sparsely populated valley. When the oldest decided to seek out her bio-parents, it took a whopping 2 weeks and blindsighted her as she really wasn't ready. Fortunately she did not fall in love with a bio related family member.
razz
2-3-21, 6:58pm
Do any of these donors have any obligations to their offspring in any way under US law? No one imagined that the DNA would be revealing relationships until recent technology developed.
GeorgeParker
2-4-21, 11:26am
Do any of these donors have any obligations to their offspring in any way under US law?I'm certain the sperm banks and fertility clinics make every client sign a contract that legally removes any potential liability the donor might have.

In cases where the man provides a container of sperm directly to the woman it seems to be an open question. Paternity laws originally didn't contemplate pregnancy without sex, and the article sounds like those laws haven't been updated to take situations like this into account.