Wendy Kramer
Wendy Kramer is the Co-Founder and Director of the Donor Sibling Registry (DSR). The DSR was founded in 2000 with her donor-conceived son Ryan to assist individuals conceived as a result of sperm, egg, or embryo donation seeking to make mutually desired contact with others with whom they share genetic ties. The DSR was founded in 2000 with her donor-conceived son Ryan to assist individuals conceived as a result of sperm, egg, or embryo donation who are seeking to make mutually desired contact with others with whom they share genetic ties. With more than 87,000 members in 105 countries, the DSR has helped to connect more than 25,000 of them with their half-siblings and/or their biological parents. Wendy has listened to, advised/consulted, and researched thousands of these parents, donors, donor-conceived people, and other donor family members.
Wendy has conducted many research studies on all donor family members and is a co-author of the resulting peer-reviewed papers published in Social Science and Medicine, Human Reproduction, Reproductive BioMedicine & Society, Facts, Views & Vision in OB/GYN, Reproductive BioMedicine Online (RBMOnline), Advances in Reproductive Sciences, Contemporary Perspectives in Family Research, Fertility and Sterility, The Journal of Family Issues, Children and Society, The Journal of Law and the Biosciences, and more. She has contributed chapters to several books on donor conception. She has reviewed abstracts for the American Society of Reproductive Medicine and has been a peer reviewer for the journals Human Reproduction, RBM Online, and Frontiers in Global Women’s Health.
Wendy was an Associate Producer for the 2011 Emmy-nominated documentary Sperm Donor and on the 2013 MTV News & Docs, six-part docuseries called Generation Cryo. In 2022, she published Counselling Donor Family Members: A Guide for Mental Health Professionals. She co-wrote the book Finding our Families: A First-of-Its-Kind Book for Donor-Conceived People and Their Families, wrote the children’s book Your Family: A Donor Kid’s Story, and authored the book Donor Family Matters: My Story of Raising a Profoundly Gifted Donor-Conceived Child, Redefining Family, and Building the Donor Sibling Registry.
Wendy was married when she gave birth to her son Ryan in 1990, and in 1991 began to raise him as an only parent. Ryan has connected with his biological father (and grandparents) and knows of 24 half-siblings, so far. Wendy holds a B.A. in Communication Arts, has completed many postgraduate courses in counselling and psychology, is Mental Health First Aid certified, and is a Psychology Today contributor.
Webinar overview
Donor families are becoming substantially more common with the wider acceptance of LGBTQ+ and single-parent families utilizing donor gametes in recent decades. The accessibility of commercial DNA testing is also helping to expand these families, as many people are finding out by surprise that they are part of a sometimes quite large donor family. The challenges of forming and redefining a donor family as one explores their own or their child’s new biological connections can seem overwhelming and make proper education and counselling for all donor family members crucial. Clinicians must be well-informed about all perspectives in order to address such issues in a knowledgeable and sensitive manner. Counselling Donor Family Members is to provide clinicians, mental health professionals, and all those in reproductive medicine with guidance on the unique issues that can present for egg and sperm donors (and their families), prospective parents, parents of donor-conceived children, and most importantly, for donor-conceived people.
Themes covered:
- Prospective parents: understanding the importance of early disclosure and honouring and supporting any curiosities their child might have about their ancestry, family medical history, and close genetic relatives
- Parents: couples with Infertility, single mothers by choice (SMC), LGBTQ single or couple recipients, non-biological parents: how best to support their children.
- Donors: sperm and egg donors, their partners, and their children: how to accept and embrace new donor family relatives.
- Donor-conceived people: common experiences and issues.
Connecting with donor family relatives and re-defining family
Is it a paid event?
The webinar is FREE for members and non-members of the European Fertility Society. However, the number of seats is limited, so make sure to book yours now!z
June 7 | GMT 15.00 pm
CET 16.00 pm / MST 08.00 am