The company “said in an open letter that it relies on the honor system for donors’ self-reported medical history and personal information” - They allow donors to vouch for their own medical history? Is that the norm in this field?
But Mousie, thou art no thy-lane [not alone],
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men
Gang aft agley [Go oft awry],
An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,
For promis’d joy!
–Bobby Burns, To a Mouse, November 1785
Wow, he looks like the guy who did the Planned Parenthood videos. I wonder . . .
Designer jeans, designer genes. You never get your money’s worth.
Almost as nasty as learning that the anonymous donor is Josh Duggar 
Seriously, this company took it on his word?
In this day and age???
The lack of due-diligence could lead to a trusting woman having a child with XYY chromosomes. What this company has done is criminal at best.
“…purported to be a healthy man with an IQ of 160 who speaks five languages and is an acclaimed musician working on a Ph.D. degree in neuroscience engineering…”
Or if that’s too much we have another donor who breeds Kentucky Derby-winning Unicorns.
My question, as well. These companies are offering a service that entails a medical procedure. By definition, they should fit into any number of categories regulated by state medical board(s). Something is seriously wrong with this setup. Not performing at least some sort of minimal investigation to verify these men’s stated history all but invites deception.
“”“39-year-old Chris Aggeles, known as Donor 9323 by the global sperm bank Xytex, purported to be a healthy man with an IQ of 160 who speaks five languages and is an acclaimed musician working on a Ph.D. degree in neuroscience engineering”""
Sure…sounds reasonable.
Yes, clearly these claims he made are so amazing that they should have been red-flagged for followup investigation. All you have to is Google it, right? Even ten years ago when some of these children were conceived a competent investigator could have easily uncovered these lies. Xytex cut corners to save money on staff. THIS IS WHY WE NEED REGULATION OF BUSINESS! So many businesses will cut corners in terms of quality and safety and customer service if given the chance. And the honest ones will be under pressure to compete with the dishonest ones that can charge lower prices because of the corners they cut. My hopes for these families is that their children continue to be okay.
Why does this sound like a takeoff on the plot line of The Boys from Brazil?
Another aspect of this case that was reported on NPR is that Canada tightly controls sperm banks in that country. So Canadian labs get their sperm from the good ole US of A, where we pay guys to donate. So when money is involved the honesty factor goes down.
On a side note would these kids have duel citizenship?
A Wendy’s Cod Sandwich purchased this weekend contained one irregular (2"x3") piece of what appeared to be breaded fin.
Heck, that’s minor. Don’t count on it to be cod or anything commercially called cod. The fish Costco sells as “ono” (aka wahoo) is actually escolar, which contains an indigestible oil (wax esters). It’s delicious, but if you cook any way other than grilling so that all of that drips off (e.g. by pan-broiling, which most people do), you end up with a day’s worth of the runs and stomach cramps.
This story is confusing. Is the sperm in question American or Canadian? Can the kids fathered by this man’s sperm be president of the United States?
Wow, even more egregious on the side of the Canadians.
This is why I put the egg donor I chose through a rigorous and intimate inspection before fertilization, and have continued monitoring her for the seventeen years after the birth of the child for signs of trouble.
That, and we get along pretty well.
Any ONE of those claims should have raised red flags but ALL of those claims together should have been cause to do at least a minimal investigation. Seriously, how hard would it have been to ask the donor to speak the FIVE languages he claimed?
For profit meant for willful ignorance in this case and the families should have standing to sue for, at a minimum, false advertising.
This is seriously scary. Schizophrenia doesn’t even begin to present itself until the mid 20s. These children and their parents may not know the full extent of the inherited mental health issues until the kids are in their 30s. Plus, one of the many, many reasons couples/women choose to use donors is precisely because there is a genetic issue they’re trying to spare their children from inheriting. For some of them I guess it will be out of the frying pan into the fire.