Ryan Kramer is used to making spreadsheets. He graduated from high school at age 14, received an undergraduate degree in aerospace engineering at 18, and a master’s in engineering management at 19. Ten years later, Kramer finds himself making spreadsheets for something other than schoolwork -- he uses them to keep track of his 20 half siblings.
Kramer found out he was donor-conceived at a very young age. “I naturally kind of got curious. I came to my mom one day and said, 'So, did my dad die or what?'”
He set off on a mission to find his sperm-donor dad. Kramer tried everything from sending a letter to the sperm bank at seven years old, to co-founding the Donor Sibling Registry (DSR) with his mom, Wendy, in 2000, which is now the largest matching website for people conceived from donors, NBC News reported.
But before finding his donor, Kramer found his first half sibling through the DSR when he was 13. “It was like a mirror looking back,” he said, as he remembered staring at the same teeth and eyebrows in someone he had just met. “It felt like a weight being lifted off my shoulders.”
Now, Kramer says he has to use a spreadsheet to keep track of his growing number of half siblings, which has reached to over 20. Although they may only get together once a year for a reunion, they mostly keep in touch through texting and a Facebook group, named after their donor number.
