If you’re looking to build your family through an egg or sperm donor, you may have questions about how to choose your donor. A common thought process is that people want to find a donor who resembles them so their child can look like them as well.

One way you can manage this is by using a “known” or “identified” donor. This means you can see photos of the donor to assist in choosing an egg or sperm donor who looks like you.

To learn more about known gamete donation, reach out to a surrogacy professional today.

Why Choose a Donor Who Looks Like Me?

Even if parents choose to use an egg donor or sperm donor, finding a way to share features with their child can be important. Picking a donor can lead to finding someone who shares physical traits with you to help increase the chances that your child will look like others in your family. You can choose physical traits including:

• Race
• Heritage
• Ancestry
• Hair color
• Eye color
• Height

In addition, many donors will include lifestyle information to help parents choose their profiles. This includes level of education, personality, left/right brain and more.

Choosing a Donor Based on Physical Traits

Finding a donor who looks like you is a common way that people search for an egg donor or sperm donor. Some people may be worried it’s a superficial way to choose a donor, but many people choose to find a donor based on physical traits to ensure their child resembles them. Whether choosing based off of hair and eye color, race or any other characteristics they can ascertain from an egg donor or sperm donor profile, this can help create a family who resembles one another.

This is often important to families using a donor, especially if they are not making it public knowledge that they are using a donor to grow their family. It can also make your child feel more part of the family if they know a donor was used. Part of choosing a donor can include using a known donor. This allows you to have more information than just physical characteristics, and offer your child more information about where they came from.

Benefits of Using a Known Donor

There are many benefits to using a known donor other than just being able to have a donor with similar features. An identified donor allows you and your future child to know more about their selves. The best reasons to work with an identified donor include:

• Family medical information: In the case of a non-anonymous egg donor you will receive substantial family health history information, but this is not usually updated after the donation. If you should ever face a medical issue with your child that may be hereditary, you can reach out to the donor so you can get updated medical and health information for your child.
• Potential siblings and genetic relationships: When an egg or sperm donor makes their donation, they usually donate multiple samples. This means your child could have potential half-siblings that they may want to connect with in the future.
• Sense of identity: When your child grows up they may have questions about the donor they came from. Having information about their donor and knowing more about where they came from can help them develop a healthy sense of identity.

Working with an egg donor can be a life-changing decision for your family. It’s a way for you to take control of your surrogacy and family-building journey. Your surrogacy agency will be there to help empower you along the way. Discover how working with a surrogacy agency can help you find an egg donor who is a perfect match for you. Connect with a surrogacy professional today.