This is one of the most shocking bits of statistics in the report.
One might take such a statistic as an endorsement from the inside! Since we’re living this life, reluctant to the roles and realities we’ve been given, and we’re obviously statistically more likely to donate ourselves, it must mean that we’ve thought long and hard about it and the selling of our own gametes is a huge green flag waving in the baby-market wind.
I’d like to offer a few alternative suggestions as to why donor-conceived people may be donating more than our “traditionally-conceived” peers.
1. A heightened curiosity and desire to live out the experience from the “other side” Our bizarre beginnings have defined our stories and identities (or lack thereof) and to breathe life into a child that we ourselves will never get to raise is literally the ONLY ABSOLUTELY SHARED life experience we will ever get to share with our biological non-parent. This isn’t an endorsement folks, its an attempt at a little poetry.
2. Short on cash. Because children who lack two parents (especially fathers) are more likely to experience downward mobility and a narrowed pool of financial assistance from their folks we donor kids are much more likely to be strapped for cash compared to our peers. Whereas a traditionally conceived peer may be able to ask her dad for a few thousand bucks for a summer trip to Europe or a semester of college or a car to get around in- it has been my personal experience, and what I perceive to be a common thread within my community, that asking a social father for large sums of cash is out of the question. The willingness to invest financially in anything other than the basics is not there. Of course if there’s no dad in the unit at all the money pool is even drier. So you see, selling your essence may present itself as one of the only means to achieving the shared adventures and assets of our peers.
It’s important to align the statistics with the anecdotes. Sometimes the motivations aren’t what you expected.
Categories: General
Another reason is that donor-conceived people know that donor conception actually exists.
Before I knew I was donor-conceived I can vaguely remember hearing about sperm donation but hardly knew what it was or even thought about it.
Yes! And there’s that.
And, your parents already endorsed it, you aren’t the one breaking something important that might offend or alarm them, which might be a major reason most people think twice about donating their (parent’s) genes. It should be remembered that the 23 chromosomes we pass on to our children are not “our” genes, but exact copies of our parent’s chromosomes in some discrete combination, each chromosome either coming from our mother or our father.
I think Alana’s “attempt at a little poetry” makes sense, too. It’s the only way to connect with a parent. I knew a friend whose father died of a heroin overdose when he was a young boy, and subsequently he too became a heroin addict. That certainly doesn’t qualify as an endorsement of heroin use.
As a donor conceived offspring I was a breath away from donating myself.
Why?
Because I was carrying the burden of existential debt and felt that I had to give back to the process that created me. I was indebted and had to justify my own existence.
I am glad I didn’t because it would have been the biggest mistake of my life.
[...] At this post an adult male donor offspring writes this: As a donor conceived offspring I was a breath away from donating myself. Why? Because I was carrying the burden of existential debt and felt that I had to give back to the process that created me. I was indebted and had to justify my own existence. I am glad I didn’t because it would have been the biggest mistake of my life. Share on Facebook Share on Twitter More Sharing Options var a2a_config = a2a_config || {}; a2a_config.linkname="On Donor Offspring Who Themselves ‘Donate’"; a2a_config.linkurl="http://familyscholars.org/2010/06/03/on-donor-offspring-who-themselves-donate/"; a2a_config.show_title=1; Print This Post [...]
[...] recently begun blogging about her own issues with both her donor conception and her egg donation at familyscholars.org (which was set up by the Institute for American Values). The study and her recent focus on the [...]