Immediately preceding the annual American
Society for Reproductive Medicine meeting in Washington, D.C., on October
12, 2007 Xytex sponsored the “Donor Registry Exploratory Workshop”.
The Workshop was sponsored by Xytex as a Memorial to the late Dr. Armand
M. Karow, the founder of Xytex. Dr. Karow was keenly interested
in the establishment of an American Donor Registry and had collaborated
with Dr. Charles Sims of California Cryo Bank for a number of years
to develop a registry.
The purpose of the workshop was to explore
the benefits and barriers to a national gamete donor registry.
The workshop was developed by Nanette Elster, JD, MPH of DePaul University
College of Law and Andrea M. Braverman, Ph.D. of Reproductive Medicine
Associates of New Jersey.
The multidiscipline Gamete Donor Registry
Workshop was well attended by leaders and experts in the field of reproductive
medicine. As a result of this workshop, the leaders of Xytex Cryo
International, California Cryo Bank and Fairfax Cryo Bank began initial
discussions for the foundation of the National Gamete Donor Registry.
On March 28, 2008, the DePaul University
College of Law sponsored a follow-up symposium “Tracking Change: The
Feasibility of a Voluntary Gamete Donor Registry in the United States”,
at the University Club in Chicago. This symposium further explored
the feasibility of creating a uniform voluntary gamete registry.
Following this meeting the Ad Hoc Committee for the Gamete Donor Registry
was formed and held their first meeting on September 7, 2008, again
in Chicago.
A mission statement was agreed upon during
this meeting as well as the purpose and content of the donor registry
database. It was agreed that the registry would include semen,
egg and embryo donation. The three national sperm banks, Xytex
Cryo International, California Cryo Bank and Fairfax Cryo Bank agreed
to cover the legal costs to establish the National Gamete Donor Registry
as a 501(c)(3). The first meeting of the National Gamete Donor
Registry was held November 10, 2008 preceding the American Society of
Reproductive Medicine in San Francisco at which time the board of Governors
was elected.
Resulting from a February 6, 2009 Dallas
meeting of the National Gamete Donor Registry Board of Governors the
registry was officially established as a 501(c)(3) Delaware Corporation.
A comprehensive American donor registry database is continuing to be
developed as a secure, voluntary and independent archive of American
gamete donors.
