About Us

Mission Statement ~ History ~ Licensing ~ Directors ~ Boards

Mission Statement

As the only non-profit sperm bank in the United States, TSBC’s mission is to provide services to all women and men who choose to create or expand their families through donor insemination and sperm storage.

In a supportive and nonjudgmental environment, TSBC provides education and resources on donor insemination and fertility options. To promote openness, our donor identity-release program – the first in the world – allows each child, at the age of eighteen, to learn the identity of his or her donor.

To enhance societal understanding and to inform industry practices, TSBC conducts research on the psychosocial implications of donor insemination.

TSBC is a catalyst for change, and with an unwavering commitment to reproductive freedom, makes the dream of family a reality.

History

The Sperm Bank of California (TSBC) began operations on October 5, 1982 in Oakland, California. We began as a project of the Oakland Feminist Women's Health Center, a family planning clinic. TSBC and the clinic shared facilities until 1988, when TSBC split off to incorporate as an independent nonprofit corporation and moved to a larger site in Oakland. In 1995, we moved to our present location in downtown Berkeley.

TSBC conducts research on the psychosocial implications of donor insemination to enhance societal acceptance of alternative family building and to inform and challenge industry practices. As a catalyst for change, TSBC pioneered a donor Identity-Release® Program, allowing children at the age of 18 to learn their donor's identity.TSBC has a history of pioneering work in the field of reproductive technologies. We were the first sperm bank in the United States to:

• create the Identity-Release® Program


• serve lesbian couples and single women


• provide extensive personal and family medical histories on donors


• offer instruction on how to perform inseminations at home


• document conception and birth rates


• track and limit the number of births per donor


• operate as a nonprofit organization

Licensing

TSBC is registered as a reproductive tissue bank with the FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) and we are in full compliance with the FDA's regulatory requirements for screening and testing donors. TSBC holds Tissue Bank and Clinical Lab licenses in California, Maryland, and New York. For current copies of licenses click here. Our Medical Director belongs to the American Association of Tissue Banks, and members of our staff are active in the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM).

Directors

TSBC Executive Director, Alice Ruby, MPH, MPPM Alice Ruby has over fifteen years experience in health care, including health education, research, and client services with an emphasis on women's health and sexual health issues. Her management experience and education have focused on the areas of non-profit administration, quality improvement, operations management, and customer service. She received awards for commitment to social justice and community-based public health from Yale University’s School of Epidemiology and Public Health.

TSBC Medical Director, Lorraine Bonner, MD Dr. Bonner is a graduate of Stanford University Medical School. She is currently a hospitalist at Summit Medical Center and Alameda Hospital and serves as the Chair of the Ethics Committee at Summit Medical Center. Dr. Bonner has been TSBC's Medical Director since 2001.

TSBC Research Director, Joanna Scheib, PhD Dr. Scheib conducts research on psychosocial issues related to donor insemination and reproduction. She received her PhD in 1996 at McMaster University in Canada based on research about the decisions underlying women's choices of sperm donors and relationship partners. Her post-doctoral training at the University of New Mexico and the University of California was supported by the CIBA Foundation and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. After joining TSBC as a researcher, she served on the Identity-Release® Task Force and conducted a needs assessment to develop policy and services for families with identity-release donors. Dr. Scheib currently directs research at TSBC including identifying factors that predict conception and examining outcomes among open-identity donors and the adult offspring who contact them. Much of the research is grant-funded by organizations such as the Bay Area Career Women, Gay and Lesbian Health Association, Gill Foundation, Rainbow Endowment, and An Uncommon Legacy Foundation. Dr. Scheib holds an appointment as assistant adjunct professor in the Psychology Department at the University of California, Davis. She publishes and presents research at national and international conferences.

Boards

TSBC has two boards to provide assistance with legal, medical, and ethical policy issues: a Board of Directors and a Medical Advisory Committee. The Board of Directors meets every other month to discuss current TSBC issues and to formulate policy. Members of the Medical Advisory Committee are available as needed to provide guidance in their respective areas of expertise.

Board of Directors

Board of Directors
Legal	Alexsis Beach, Esq. Liza Cozad, Esq. (Treasurer)
Mental Health	Jean Benward, LCSW (Co-President) Francie Hornstein, LCSW (Co-President)
Ob/Gyn	Erica Breneman, MD
Members at Large	Max Rorty, MSW Robert Vermeulen (Secretary)
Medical Advisory Committee
Ethics	Susan Rubin, PhD
General Medicine	Jeffrey Burack, MD Grace Laurencin, MD, MPH
Genetics	Dawn Banasiak, MS
Infectious Disease	Lorraine Bonner, MD
Ob/Gyn	Erica Breneman, MD
Perinatology	Mickye Adams, MD
Urology	Paul Turek, MD