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One Sperm Donor, 31 Half Siblings & A Long Search For Identity

Illustration of three smiling people standing between the vertical bars of a large DNA double helix, as if the strands are columns. The word “Embodied” is written in bold green letters at the top. The background is a gradient of peach to blue with dotted patterns.
Charnel Hunter

More than a million people in the U.S. have used donor sperm in the past three decades. One donor-conceived person shares his story of searching for biological family members and what he learned while on that journey.

Ryan Kramer was born through an anonymous sperm donor in 1990. By the time he was 2 years old, he already had some big questions about his identity — and the desire to find answers.

Ryan’s search led him to become the first donor-conceived person to find his biological parent through DNA testing. He also co-founded the Donor Sibling Registry, an organization that’s helped connect tens of thousands of donor-conceived people with their biological family.

He tells host Anita Rao about meeting many of his own genetic relatives and what this journey has taught him about the meaning of those relationships.

Read the transcript

Kaia Findlay is the lead producer of Embodied, WUNC's weekly podcast and radio show about identity, relationships and health. Kaia first joined the WUNC team in 2020 as a producer for The State of Things.
Anita Rao is an award-winning journalist and the host and creator of "Embodied," a nationally distributed weekly radio show and podcast about relationships, identity and health.
Amanda Magnus is the executive producer of Embodied, a weekly radio show and podcast about identity, relationships and health.
Wilson Sayre is WUNC's Director of Digital Content leading our podcasting strategy and initiatives. She has worn many hats in the audio world as an editor, producer, consultant and team lead.