Online Sperm Bank Connects Donors, Parents and Offspring

RMN Digital | August 25, 2014 | Lifestyle, Masses, Personal Tech, Video | No Comments

xyConnects is an online destination that allows donors, offspring and parents to connect, share experiences and learn about each other’s journey to start a family.

Today, thousands of children are born as the result of anonymous sperm donation. Now, Xytex Cryo International (Xytex), a sperm bank, through a new online connection site called xyConnects, aims to connect such children with their biological father.

The site makes it possible for donors who provided semen to Xytex to connect and communicate with the parents and offspring (13 years and older) who resulted from their donations.

“It is not uncommon for children conceived by donor semen to want to discover more about the man who made it possible for them to have life,” said Kevin O’Brien, president of Xytex. “Until now, these connections have been made informally through online forums and social media communities, which offer no guarantee that donors are using their real identities.”

xyConnects uses confirmed donor ID numbers and recorded births to confirm identity before any online connections can be initiated. xyConnects further enhances the environment’s security with a Xytex moderator who reviews and approves every user registration, message, post and photo placed on the site.

xyConnects allows users to send and receive messages, share photos and post updates to a public online bulletin board. In addition to allowing offspring and parents to connect with their donors, this technology enables users to see other families their donor has helped create, adding the exciting potential for children to communicate with half siblings as well.

The free service is a technological solution to the process by which many sperm banks connect offspring with donors who are willing to be identified.

Previously, Xytex would receive correspondence from offspring, and upon manually confirming the donor’s ID number and willingness to accept such correspondence, forward it to the donor. From there, future correspondence was at the discretion of the donor.

All patients of Xytex who have a reported confirmed birth are eligible to register for xyConnects using their existing xytex.com login. Xytex has notified all of its donors about the online platform and is encouraging membership. Children between the ages of 13 and 17 must have written consent from their legal guardian to register for an account.