Join The Sperm Bank of California's Sustaining Circle!

Sustaining Circle members support the less visible, yet critical, work we do including our research program, ongoing support for families & donors, and advocating for policies that protect LGBTQ+ parent families and increase openness in donor conception.

"I believe the way TSBC leads this field in research, policy development, and care for everyone involved in the process--donors, recipients, and especially donor-conceived people--reinforces that we chose the right sperm bank to help build our family." -J, TSBC mom

We invite you to join our Sustaining Circle with a monthly or annual donation. What value do you place on the openness and information sharing that your family has experienced over the years? Partner with us to keep it going.

In the last two years donor conception has become a hot topic for state and federal policy making. Executive Director, Alice Ruby, and Research Director, Joanna Scheib, have become TSBC’s policy team. Longstanding LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations and newer coalitions of donor conceived people have invited Alice and Joanna to provide perspectives grounded in TSBC research and experience. Thanks to the generosity of donor conceived adults, our research includes some of the only interviews with donor conceived people who were raised in openness.

Our findings–from people born in the 1980s and 1990s–are relevant today. Young families built through donor conception today are most similar to families we have always served, with a majority of LGBTQ+ and single parents. Joanna presented findings at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine conference last month and was awarded the Mental Health prize paper.

Our small, community-based, nonprofit organization provided donor assistance differently from day one. Our thoughtful approach is now key to current policy debates about openness in donor conception and to protecting LGBTQ+ families’ parentage rights. At the request of intended parents, we started innovative programs that continue today. The “before-their-time” programs from decades ago (Identity-Release® Program, Family Contact List, low family limit, and educational approach to donor-assisted family building) are now backed by published research. TSBC's research and example have changed how donor conception is practiced across the country and around the world. 

We continue to support families, donor-conceived adults, and donors by providing free mutual-consent openness options. More than 3700 families have been assisted by TSBC program donors–with 38% participating in the Family Contact List. Since 2001, 324 donor-conceived adults have received their donor’s identity through the Identity-Release® Program which represents 141 donors. Since 2014 all new donors have agreed that TSBC can share their identity with donor-conceived adults.

We support our TSBC community daily in many other ways behind the scenes. We conduct pregnancy audits to maintain our low family limit–the lowest available in the US. We continue to expand our donor counseling and screening, and to support donor-conceived adults through the process of requesting the donor’s identity. Genetic and medical advisors review newly reported medical information so we can share medical updates.

We do all our work under our guiding principles of equity, access, and inclusion. We serve the full rainbow of the LGBTQ+ community, solo parents, parents with multiple partners, and heterosexual couples who are seeking an open and comprehensive approach to donor conception. Knowing most families seek a donor who shares ethnicity with one or more parents, in 2018 we developed our Equity Policy to preserve access for those with fewer options. And our staff take extra care and pride in supporting trans* people, including youth (and their parents) who store their genetic material prior to gender affirming treatments.

• How much do you value advocacy that looks out for everyone in the TSBC family—supporting both increased legal protections for non-gestational parents and the ability for adults to learn their donor’s identity?
• What is it worth for donor-conceived adults to receive support in learning more about the donor and for donor-conceived children to know they have the option to learn who the donor is when they turn 18?  
• Can you put a value on what your family has gained from contact with others who share your donor, assistance with second parent adoption, resources on our website, or notification of new medical information?  

Join our Sustaining Circle with a monthly donation and support these critical programs supporting TSBC families and other families created with donor assistance. 

Can’t afford a monthly contribution or prefer to give annually? A one-time donation helps, too!

Mission: The Sperm Bank of California is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing ethical family building options to our diverse community. We have an unwavering commitment to the well-being of parents, children, and donors.