Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site decwrl.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!bonnie!akgua!mcnc!decvax!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-vaxuum!dyer From: dyer@vaxuum.DEC (On foot...again *sigh* .) Newsgroups: net.kids,net.motss,net.women Subject: Donor Insemination Message-ID: <1669@decwrl.UUCP> Date: Mon, 15-Apr-85 03:11:12 EST Article-I.D.: decwrl.1669 Posted: Mon Apr 15 03:11:12 1985 Date-Received: Wed, 17-Apr-85 00:55:14 EST Sender: daemon@decwrl.UUCP Organization: DEC Engineering Network Lines: 103 Xref: watmath net.kids:1180 net.motss:1606 net.women:4773 Donor Insemination______________________________________________________________ I recently had a very strange dream about two lesbian friends of mine deciding to have a baby through Donor Insemination (DI). It was a funny dream wherein the donor had a condom with little graduation markings on it showing how many milliliters of semen were collected... Anyways, the dream got me thinking about DI in general, so I did a little research on it out of curiosity. I got bits and pieces about it from all over, but everything I found out was summarized very well in _The_New_Our_ _Bodies,_Ourselves_. I figured I'd share it with y'all, since it's easy to do but not without complications. *** NOTE: Some of the following is a bit sexually explicit! *** DI is the only low-tech available-to-anybody way for single women and lesbian couples to have children. It's so simple anybody can do it at home, and since the trend seems to be towards limiting reproductive technologies to married couples with money, I'll describe the basic facts here as a public service. For heterosexual women who don't want the donor to be anonymous and who can stand to be intimate with the donor, there's always the - um - traditional method. (If you don't know what I'm talking about, you can rent _The_Big_Chill_ at a VCR place...) For everyone else, the procedure is almost as simple. The donor, who is of course male, supplies the sperm. To do this he must ejaculate. This he can do by masturbating or, if preferred, with the encouragement (hee hee) of his own partner. Whatever. He should ejaculate into some kind of receptacle. A condom will do fine, as long as it doesn't have some kind of spermicide in it! A jar will also do, but make sure it's clean and sterile: Put it in boiling water then let it cool (or you'll fry the little spermies). The sooner the sperm gets into the woman, the better. It must be done within an hour after ejaculation. For the woman's comfort she should be lubricated. For good karma, it would be nice if this could be achieved by her sexual arousal. (I didn't read this anywhere, it's just my opinion...) Again, she can do this by masturbating or with the help of a lover. She should then lie on her back with her rear end raised - like up on a pillow. The semen can then be sucked up into a needleless hypodermic syringe or an eyedropper or a turkey baster (the last two are cheaper and less conspic- uous when you go shopping, but you should make sure they're clean). Gently insert the syringe or eyedropper or turkey baster into the vagina and empty it, depositing the semen close to the cervix. The woman should remain lying on her back for half an hour so the stuff doesn't leak out. These instructions, like the instructions on a shampoo bottle, end with the word "repeat". You should do this two or three times (or more, I suppose) during and after ovulation. Nine months later, shazam! Babies!!! (Well, that part isn't guaran- teed...it might take several tries. It should work, evenutally, if both donor and recipient are fertile.) That part's easy. But like I said, there can be complications: The biggest question is whether you want the donor to be anonymous or not. Here's what they say in _The_New_Our_Bodies,_Ourselves_ (quoted without permission): Mutual anonymity between you and the man who donates the sperm may be important for both of you, and can forestall legal and emotional complications. Problems have arisen when a man who gave his sperm had a change of feelings later and sued for visitation or wanted to give the child his surname. Single and lesbian women especially have to guard against this kind of harassment. The sperm donor, too, may need protect- ion, because a court may later assert a donor's responsibility for child support. [You should be aware of how the laws on DI operate in your state.] There are also arguments against anonymity. Many unmarried women, both heterosexual and lesbian, want the donor to be a friend who will possibly be involved in the child's life. Also, just as adopted children are making increasing efforts to locate their biological parents, some children conceived by DI may be disturbed and angry if they cannot find out who their biological fathers are. Also, health problems may arise that may make us or our children want to have access to the biological father's medical history. [I might also add that anonymous donors aren't easy to find without a good friend or some kind of institution; so make sure that the friend or institution screens donors well - you don't want to catch a disease and you may wish to avoid having your child inherit health problems.] I hope I haven't offended anyone with this article. It's just that I'm not too thrilled with the way reproductive technologies are being controlled by the powers-that-be, and I'm not too thrilled with the way the powers-that-be are prohibiting reproductive technologies from single women and lesbian couples who want children. There are actually clinics that restrict DI to married coup- les! (There are also feminist clinics that don't.) But this stuff is so low-tech that anyone can do it, so here it is! Spread this info around. Maybe it will fall into the hands of somebody who needs to know it! <_Jym_> P.S.: If you need help picking out names, drop me a line. Maybe I could code up a random name generator (-:)... :::::::::::::::: Jym Dyer ::::' :: `:::: Dracut, Massachusetts ::' :: `:: :: :: :: DYER%VAXUUM.DEC@DECWRL.ARPA :: .::::. :: {allegra|decvax|ihnp4|ucbvax}!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-vaxuum!dyer ::..:' :: `:..:: ::::. :: .:::: Statements made in this article are my own; they might not :::::::::::::::: reflect the views of |d|i|g|i|t|a|l| Equipment Corporation.