Abstract

ALVAREZ PLAZA, Consuelo  and  PICHARDO GALAN, J. Ignacio. Genetic legacy: messages from sperm donors to families and their offspring. Inter disciplina [online]. 2022, vol.10, n.28, pp.83-110.  Epub Dec 05, 2022. ISSN 2448-5705.  https://doi.org/10.22201/ceiich.24485705e.2022.28.83291.

Genetics provides an emic mindset of kinship where gametes appear as bearers of links and heritable characteristics. The personal messages of sperm donors on the banks’ web- sites highlight personal characteristics that are perceived as transmissible by the recipients. Objectives: to know the type of messages that sperm donors leave on a bank’s website, to whom are they addressed, what is their purpose. Methodology: nethnography was conducted on the official website of a Danish sperm bank for 2 months in 2019. 60% (605) of all registered donors’ profiles (1,010) offered handwritten messages to registered users. Results: sperm donors are classified by “racial” profiles: 915 (87%) Caucasian; 54 (5%) Asian; 42 (3%) Hispanic; 32 (3%) Middle Eastern and 16 (2%) African. This is the number of donors that have left a message in their profile: 531 Caucasians (100 of them were analysed), 32 Asians, 41 Hispanics, 17 from the Middle East and 12 Africans. These messages usually include a personal description, motivations to be a donor and messages for the children making explicit, in some cases, the possibility of contact. Conclusions: these messages are personal self portraits of sperm donors in order to motivate being chosen and presenting themselves as someone unique.

Keywords : sperm donor; motivations; genetic link; contact with born child; eligibility.

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