Adam Pertman
Commentaries and conversations about social justice, human rights, families, children … and adoption. By Adam Pertman, Executive Director of the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute and Author of "Adoption Nation: How the Adoption Revolution is Transforming Our Families – and America"
Welcome
About Adam
Adoption Nation
The Adoption Institute
Appearances
Share Your Comments!
Contact Adam
HomeAdam's Commentaries
Adoption Nation
1st Ed. Book Reviews
Praise for Adoption Nation
Announcements & Events
In the Media
Interviews
News Stories
Op-eds & Commentaries
Other Publications
Videos, Podcasts & Radio
Quick Thoughts
150 Half-Siblings? Let’s Learn Some Old Lessons
September 6, 2011
Today’s New York Times story on the multiple children of sperm donors (http://tinyurl.com/NYTdonors) is fascinating, important, informative – and missing a key component; that is, what can and should we be doing about a reality in which one sperm donor can produce 150 children! 
Adoption’s history can help us to better understand and deal with complex issues like this. I can only hope that any journalist contemplating a follow-up article, in the Times or elsewhere, will include elements of the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute’s report entitled “Old Lessons for a New World” (http://tinyurl.com/OldLessons). It contains a lot of very good research and analysis about what we can learn from adoption’s experiences, and how we might apply that knowledge to assisted reproductive technologies (ART), including sperm donation.  
The findings in the Institute’s report include:
• The problematic effects of secrecy and of withholding information – on adopted persons, birthparents, and adoptive families – offer insights for ART policy and practice related to the circumstances of a donor offspring’s conception, disclosure of medical and other background information, and the identities of those involved.
• The child-centered focus of adoption provides a vital perspective for placing greater attention on the children conceived through ART.
• Adoption has knowledge to share concerning the creation of “nontraditional” families, particularly as more single, gay, and lesbian adults use ART.
• ART and adoption can mutually benefit from examination of the impact of market forces (including the costs of services and the potential commodification of the individuals involved) on the ethics and quality of services provided.
• The legal and regulatory framework for adoption provides a model that ART can utilize to inform its standards and procedures.
And here are some of the recommendations:
Processes and policies should be implemented to allow children born of ART to learn the circumstances of their births, as well as their biological and medical backgrounds.
Research should be conducted to better understand the experiences of all parties to ART, to determine what services would benefit them, and to develop best pract