Selection criteria in the search for a sperm donor: behavioural traits versus physical appearance

Whyte, Stephen; Torgler, Benno

doi:10.1007/s10818-014-9193-9

Cited by 16 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…Scheib (1994, p. 113) compared donor selection to mate selection in an experimental context, demonstrating that "attributes believed likely to affect a resultant child were significantly more important in a donor than in a long-term mate" although recipients were also "partly relying on the psychology used to choose a long-term mate when they assessed attributes in a sperm donor." More recently, Torgler and Whyte (2013) found that women looking for a sperm donor in the online donation market cared more about a donor's inner values (such as reliability) than his exterior traits (including physical characteristics and education); on this issue see also Whyte and Torgler, 2014). Interestingly, Rodino et al (2011, p. 998) found that single women "placed higher value on biographical traits reflective of the donor's level of potential resources (occupation, hobbies, age and good character) compared with either partnered lesbian or heterosexual women; they also found that sperm donor recipients were interested in the reason why the donor decided to donate.…”

Section: Criteria For Selecting Eggs and Spermmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gendering gametes: The unequal contributions of sperm and egg donors

Hertz

Nelson

Kramer³

2015

Social Science & Medicine

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This paper compares three groups of gestational mothers who relied on gametes from donors they did not know. The three groups are women who have conceived with donor sperm and their own eggs, women who have conceived with donor eggs and a partner's sperm, and women who have conceived with embryos composed of both donor eggs and donor sperm. The paper explores three issues. First, it considers whether intending parents select sperm and egg donors for different attributes both when they are chosen as the only donor and when they are chosen as donors contributing to an entire embryo. Second, it examines how women imagine the donor. Finally, it looks at how women conceptualize the donor as an individual who contributes to their child's characteristics. Two significant findings emerged in this analysis of survey data. First, the data show that gametes are gendered with different attributes both when those gametes are separate and even more so when seen as complementary parts of a whole. Second, the data show that women minimize the impact of the egg donor (both when a sole contribution and especially when part of the complementary whole) and thus ignore the influence or impact of the egg donor relative to how they make sense of the influence or impact of the sperm donor. The data for this study comes from an online survey developed by the authors.

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Section: Criteria For Selecting Eggs and Spermmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gendering gametes: The unequal contributions of sperm and egg donors

Hertz

Nelson

Kramer³

2015

Social Science & Medicine

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“…A survey of 56 men who were looking to donate their sperm online found that donor age and income were important in determining how many times they were selected, as were factors such as being less extroverted and more intellectual, shy and systematic (Whyte & Torgler, 2016 ). A survey of 74 women looking for an online sperm donor found that they had a greater preference for certain character traits, specifically reliability, openness and kindness and were less concerned about traits such as income, political views and religious beliefs (Whyte & Torgler, 2015 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Why search for a sperm donor online? The experiences of women searching for and contacting sperm donors on the internet

Jadva

Freeman

Tranfield³

et al. 2017

Human Fertility

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Whilst studies have examined the experiences of women who use clinic donors, to date there has been limited research investigating women’s motivations and experiences of searching for a sperm donor online. A total of 429 women looking for a sperm donor on Pride Angel (a website that facilitates contact between donors and recipients) completed an online survey. Fifty-eight percent (249) saw advantages of obtaining donated sperm online with the most common advantage reported as being able to connect with and meet the donor (n = 50 (24%)). A third (n = 157 (37%)) of the participants gave disadvantages, the most common reported was encountering ‘dishonest donors’ (n = 63 (40%)). Most recipients (n = 181 (61%)) wanted the donor to be ‘just a donor’ (i.e. to provide sperm and have no further contact). Whilst it was important for recipients to know the identity of the donor, some did not see this as important for the child and thus the level of information that parents have about the donor, and that which the child has, can differ. Finding a donor online blurs the distinction between categories of ‘anonymous’, ‘known’ and ‘identity release’ donations. Whilst the survey had a large sample size, the representativeness of the sample is not known.

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“…Availability of supply (Van den Broeck et al 2013, Yee 2009) is at times compromised for a range of social, medical, financial, legal, or even logistical reasons. We are also unable to collect information on participants' (both donor and recipient) personality or preference for personality, which has previously been shown to impact sperm donor choice (Whyte & Torgler 2015).…”

Section: Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Research into the characteristics of preferred sperm donors and the women that participate in these markets is relatively new (Riggs & Russell 2010, Ripper 2008, Whyte & Torgler 2015. By utilizing data on donor gamete reservations from an Australian private practice fertility firm, we are able to explore the factors and characteristics preferred by women when choosing a sperm donor.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%