And the winner is...

For some reason I thought that picking a donor would be easier; we managed to narrow it down to five and we ordered and received the long profiles. Here is where knowing too much becomes a problem. I expected the super investigated, genetic counselor reviewed, 30 plus page profiles that I was in charge of helping donors prepare and instead we got shorter, less complete, doctor reviewed perfectly adequate (and very similar to egg donor profiles that I have seen) profiles. Apparently I didn't realize that I was as stressed as I was because I basically had a panic attack wondering if I had picked the wrong bank, if we could find the right donor, and the enormity of picking a sperm donor was overwhelming. Taylor, as usual, helped calm me down by reminding me that there were very specific reasons we chose this bank (see earlier post on this) and that we are not perfect and can not expect the donor to be perfect. Typically, heterosexual couples do not research each others family health history before getting together, before having a baby. We have the challenge and the privilege of trying to select someone whose genetic material will help us expand our family. What we have realized through this process is that it is as important to us that we feel the donor would be a positive person for our child to meet as it is that they have a perfect health history. With all these factors in mind it was easier to narrow down the choices, two were easy to discard due to various factors (current drug use, immature responses etc.) of the final three we liked two best. Taylor was really drawn to one over the other because he made her laugh and the bank came through in providing really personal perspectives of the donors when I called, which confirmed our decision. I don't feel comfortable posting the donor number on the blog but if you are a friend or family member feel free to e-mail me directly and I promise to share. After making the decision the stress is greatly relieved and we are again focusing on the things we need/want to do before we start inseminations. Enjoy the picture of Taylor with the winning profile. :)