What's New

Important News

Queers Making Babies Support Group

For queer, lesbian, bi, & trans people who have begun or are planning their insemination process for getting pregnant.

In this on-going group we:

* Support each other through this challenging and hopeful time
* Exchange resources about various methods of acquiring sperm, including sperm banks, known donors, & co-parenting
* Increase fertility awareness and strategies for conception
* Discuss various techniques, such as vaginal & intrauterine insemination, fertility treatments, & timing plans
* Enhance ability to cope with the mix of emotions that can be overwhelming or confusing
* Explore issues about parenting as LBTQ people
* Form connections with other queer parents-to-be

Singles and couples are welcome.
Group is limited to 7 participants.

WHEN: Thursday evenings, 7:10-8:45
WHERE: Berkeley
COST: $45 per session per person
(Sliding scale may be available)
CONTACT:
Laura Goldberger, MFT
(510) 665-7755
lauragoldberger@sbcglobal.net
for more information or to schedule a free initial meeting

The group is led by Laura Goldberger, MFT. She is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who has worked with lesbian/queer/genderqueer/trans people, parents, couples, and children for over 14 years. Individual and couple therapy also available.

Newsletter

Check out our newsletter for what's happening at TSBC and in the world of donor insemination. The newsletter comes out quarterly.

TSBC in the News

Hear our Director of Research, Dr. Joanna Scheib on a podcast from Choice Moms talking about her research with adult offspring. She discusses what they want to know, and what concerns them.
Choice Moms is an organization serving single women who proactively choose motherhood.

Our Executive Director, Alice Ruby can be heard on a podcast talking about what to look for when choosing a sperm bank.

She can also be heard as a panelist on Rona Renner RN - Radio Talk Show - the topic was “LGBT Parenting”. The panel will also include an adoption professional and 2 LGBT parents.
click here for more information

Check out the podcast with Maia Midwifery about in-home insemination also.

THE SPERM BANK OF CALIFORNIA was highlighted in a recent article in Curve Magazine

Conception & Parenting Resources: New Publications

Access to fertility treatment by gays, lesbians, and unmarried persons position statement was revised recently by The Ethics Committee of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (in press; published online 03 September 2009).
From the abstract:
This statement explores the implications of reproduction by single individuals, unmarried heterosexual couples, and gay and lesbian couples, and concludes that ethical arguments supporting denial of access to fertility services on the basis of marital status or sexual orientation cannot be justified.

Telling and Talking about Donor Conception: A Guide for Parents, by Olivia Montuschi, Donor Conception Network, UK, 2006. Four booklets designed to help parents decide whether and how to tell their children about their donor origins. Each booklet is geared toward a different age group, from birth to adulthood. Available from the Donor Conception Network in England or the Infertility Network in Canada.

Lesbian and Gay Parenting. Public Interest Directorate from the American Psychological Association, Washington, DC, 2005. This publication is an excellent resource for lesbian and gay parents that includes up-to-date summary of research findings, APA amicus briefs and other resources. Another more extensive review comes in the form of Abbie Goldberg's great new book, Lesbian and Gay Parents and Their Children: Research on the Family Life Cycle.

Are you considering being a DI dad? A letter from Walter to would-be DI Dads can help you think through issues related to parenting through donor conception. Written by Walter Merricks, this letter is found among many of the excellent articles at the Donor Connection Network based in the UK.

Request for Research Participants

December 2009: Take the COLAGE Donor Insemination survey

COLAGE, a youth-driven national network of people with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer parents, is thrilled to announce the debut of the ART Project, a program to highlight the experiences of COLAGErs born through assisted reproductive technologies. Over the past 30 years the number of people born through these technologies to LGBTQ parents has steadily grown, yet let little, if any, work has been done to bring this community together or address the experiences of these youth and adults.

The first major effort of the ART Project is to conduct a national assessment of COLAGErs born through donor insemination. As part of this project, COLAGE is calling all youth born through donor insemination and their parents to take an online survey. In the upcoming months, COLAGE will be using all the great information we collect through these surveys to develop and debut new programs and resources giving COLAGErs born through DI tools to talk about their family, spark open dialogues within families and communities about donor insemination and equip both COLAGErs and parents to navigate schools and other institutions.

There are two surveys, one for COLAGErs born through donor insemination and one for their parents. Each survey will take between 15 and 20 minutes to complete. The links for both surveys can be found below. If you have any questions about surveys or the ART Project in general, please contact Jeff DeGroot, COLAGE Fellow at jeff@colage.org.

Thanks so much!

Survey for LGBTQ indentified parents with a donor conceived child:
Parents

Survey for people born through donor insemination with a LGBTQ identified parent:
Offspring



December 2009: GLBT-affirmative study on Same-Sex Parenting

The University of Memphis' GLBT Research Team is conducting a GLBT-affirmative study on Same-Sex Parenting, and we are looking for participants. The purpose of this study is to learn about the experiences of same-sex parents in relationship to legal parenting rights. We believe this research is important in advocating for parents to be fully recognized in their family role and to not be discriminated against in family concerns.

Participants must be 18 years or older, currently be in a relationship with the same-sex partner with whom they have planned and created a family, and have at least one child under the age of 18 living in their home. The study should take approximately 20 minutes to complete online and meets human subjects approval by our university Institutional Review Board.

Survey

Thank you for your consideration in supporting our advocacy for same-sex parents and their families.

Sharon Horne, Ph.D. & Heidi Levitt, Ph.D.
The University of Memphis
See our past research on the effects of
anti-GLBT amendments on GLBT individuals and their families.



April 2009: Are You From the UK?

Recent headlines in the UK press have drawn our attention to the apparent increase in numbers of British people who are travelling overseas for fertility treatment. However, little is known about the reasons why people choose to travel to other countries for treatment, or about what happens to them when they do. Researchers at De Montfort University in the UK are looking for British individuals or couples who have considered this option and ruled it out, are currently in the process, or have already received treatment abroad.

If you interested in taking part, we would like approximately one hour of your time (at a time and place convenient to you) to hear about your experiences. Your involvement in the study and identity will of course be kept anonymous. For more information, please contact the project researcher at DMU, Dr Nicky Hudson, on 0116 2078766 or nhudson@dmu.ac.uk
Thank you.