The "You Have How Many Children?" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Carol and I were visiting long time friends and traveling companions Jere and Just Sue in State College, Pennsylvania.  Spent the weekend with them and had a good time walking through an extremely large antique store in Milroy, PA on Saturday afternoon.  The next morning I awoke and made my way to the living room where their Sunday Centre Daily Times greeted me.  Sat in the green chair by the light and began to peruse the front page of the newspaper.  A story about a struggling fire company caught my eye as did a story about the local school district having to add a week on to the school year due to missing too much school due to winter snow storms.  Then, in the bottom right of page was the story that really caught my attention.  In what appeared to be 48 point bold type was the headline: After donating sperm in State College, one man found his offspring decades later.  Unbelievable!  As I began to read the story I realized that the man in the story had originally written a similar story on September 28 of last year for the New York Times "Modern Love" column.  Googled the story and found it just as interesting as the story in the Centre Daily Times.  My story today is a condensed version of both his story and the article in the State College newspaper written by Lauren Muthler.  Back in 1984 Aaron Long graduated from State College Area High School.  The next ten years of his life remain a blur for readers, but in 1994 he returned to State College after teaching English abroad.  He left Europe, leaving his girlfriend in Germany, and moved in with his mom. Being in need of money, he began driving a taxi for Handy Delivery and also began "donating" sperm twice a week at the Fairfax Cryobank for $40 a pop, as he says.  The sperm donation was confidential, and at the time, DNA testing wasn't as available as it is today.  He was never asked to provide information except for college major, hobbies and family health history.  He had signed a nondisclosure waiver and assumed there would never be a way for him to find what might have happened to his sperm.  The next ten years saw him traveling between the West Coast and State College before making a home for himself in Seattle, Washington.  And then the Internet happened, as he says.  In the early 2000s he discovered the Donor Sibling Registry, but didn't see any of his offspring visiting the site.  He later found that his progeny (descendants) began to use the site in the 2010s as teenagers to try and find each other.  A few years ago he began to explore the site 23andMe, a service that analyzes your saliva and provided you with information about ancestry, health and DNA relatives.  He signed up for the service and nine months later got his results back and on the top of the list was the name Bryce Gallo, 22, son.  Aaron Googled him and after much consideration, wrote to him telling him he was his father.  Bryce replied almost instantly telling his dad that he wanted to meet him and that he was one of six children that he knew existed on the 23andMe.  Aaron was surprised at the results and even more surprised when Bryce had called him "Dad."  And, he had SIX children.  Bryce connected him with a daughter Madalyn, 19 years old.  Then a few months later another relative appeared on the website: Alice, age 11.  But, this time it was Alice's mother Jessica who wrote the note.  She and her female partner had each given birth to a daughter conceived with Aaron's sperm.  They broke up years ago, but have been raising both girls together until recently when the former partner and daughter moved away.  He and Jessica began to chat online and she told Aaron that she now had a boyfriend named Aaron.  Wasn't long before Jessica, Alice, Bryce, Madalyn and Aaron went on a vacation together to get to know each other better.  I should tell you that I have viewed the photo of the five of them which was in the State College newspaper, but which I don't have the right to publish, and...they really do look like their dad.  Jess and Aaron hit it off and Jess and Alice moved in with him in Seattle.  A year later Madi asked if she could move in with them.  Bryce is currently in the Air Force, but keeps in touch.  So far Aaron has met four of his biological children and knows of six more he hasn't met yet.  Jessica and Aaron are still a couple living in Seattle where Aaron works as a writer.  Now, how do you feel about the entire story you just read.  What do you think of sperm donation?  And, should Aaron be financially liable for the possible large quantity of children he might have produced?  I wish them well, but I personally am not sure how I would answer my own questions.  If you care to look at a photo of Aaron and his new family, Google the State College Centre Daily Times and look for the story from Sunday, February 24, 2019.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.