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.
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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.
