European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - December 29, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sperm donor services sperm Banks gain Public acceptance by Sehyeon Joh associated press a Adrienne Ramm says she does t know the father of her next baby but she s quite sure the child will be highly intelligent and very  was inseminated with sperm sentry mail from a California sperm Bank which did nol provide the donor s name but described him As an olympic Gold medallist and very intelligent my husband and i have studied the donor s background through a profile provided by the sperm Bank she said referring to the repository for germinal Choice in Escondido Calif which offers Frozen sperm of outstanding men to infertile couples throughout the United slates. I m sure we will have a Strong and Small child in less than a year from now Ramm a 37-year-old maw York Baliel dancer and Leacher. Ramm was confident because she gave birth to a daughter conceived by the same method four years ago and described the child As Bright and articulate. My husband and i have decided to have another child because we Are very Happy with our 3-year-old daughter Leandra she said. Her biological father is a science professor and researcher who loves children and  Leandra is one of the 42 Nobel babies conceived in the United states from sperm provided by the California repository which initially offered the sperm of Nobel prizewinners and others possessing High is. Service donor semen a so Celmens 7-12 specimens 13-19 specimens 20 or More Over int delivery weekday weekend artificial insemination Price in this method of Conception sperm irom a husband or donor is placed in a woman s Vagina with a syringe or cervical Cap. Moat sperm donors remain Anonymous. Aboul 300,000 children in the . Hava been conceived through artificial insemination by donor. $85 each $81 each jtteacht73eadn s5s $65 semen freezing $40 semen storage 2 years 3 years 4 ears _5_yebrs_ $95 per ,$180 $250 $330$400 $150 sex selection per treatment Beto Cung a donor clients select from a Catalon of medically screened _ sperm donors the nation s 2b sperm Banks were involved in the Conception of an estimated 30.000 babies in the United Stales and 11 european countries this year up irom 24,000 babies in 1985, according 1o of. Jerome k. Sherman chairman of the reproduction Council of the american association of tissues Banks in Litlo Roc. Ark. Of. Robert Graham who made a Fortune by inventing the unbreakable plastic Lens Lor eyeglasses founded the repository seven years ago with the idea that if a woman wants to be artificially Ingemi Nalcy Why nol use a gifted donor but the idea sol off protests irom people who opposed what they perceived to to eugenics reminiscent of Adolf Hitler s racist policies. Outrage intensified when it was revealed that one donor was Nobel physics laureate William Shockley according to Dora Baux. Manager of the repository. Shockley has said that Blacks have average lower intelligence Tolian whiles for genetic reasons. Today the pickets at the repository have departed and criticism has subsided As the business of sperm Banks finds increasing acceptance from the . Public. Baux said in an that one of the most difficult problems is to maintain a steady Supply of sperm of outstanding men and High achievers with is ranging from 140 to 190. An in of 100 represents Normal intelligence. A qualified donor is hard to come by and we Don t want to frighten him away from our Bank by disclosing his identity Saux said explaining Why the Bank insists on the anonymity of the donors. She revealed there were no Nobel prize winners among the Bank s 10 regular donors now however they Are mostly scientists and physicians she said the repository no longer offers sperm of the Nobel laureates who have been donors in the past because they Are mostly elderly she said. For better Quality sperm younger men Are preferred. On the whole we believe we have done Well with 19 current pregnancies in addition to 42 babies born so far said Baux. Sherman of the tissue Banks association. Predicted a Lurcher Rise in the number of babies conceived with the Hilp of sperm donors. The number of babies born through artificial insemination will further increase As the . Government seems Likely to recommend the use of Only Frozen semen not fresh semen Sherman said the recommendation is expected because Frozen somen could to quarantined Lor the tests of aids Hep Alilis and other diseases Sherman said. As Tiesh semen is received the Bank freezes it and quarantines it for at least four weeks while the donor twice undergoes medical tests explained or Joseph Feldschuh president of Idanel lab of new York the oldest and largest sperm Bank in the United slates. He said the demand for Frozen sperm is so High that his Laboratory has a recruitment program at 130 medical Law and other colleges Wilh mostly students donating their sperm Lor $30 per unit. Feldschuh said id ant lab charges $250 for consultation and $100 for each insemination. In a typical Case a woman receives six insemination to become pregnant. Toddlers who play Wilh a talking computer make More efforts to express themselves than they do under Standard speech therapy and they May build a speaking vocabulary faster while playing Wilh toys and an adult the child works with a display of 12 pictures. When the child touches a picture the computer pronounces 1he corresponding word and displays the picture on its screen. A child who touches the pictures for open and  for example is asking that a bottle of Bubble solution be opened. The setup lets the children hear the words repeatedly and encourages them to speak said Laura Meyers research linguist Al the University of California at los Angeles and assistant scientist Al the cily of Hope in Duarl Calif. Meyers who did the work with Urcla colleague Leila Beckwith said the children eventually come to Seo themselves As speakers which encourages them to further learning and speaking. Several studies of language and other learning among children Wilh Down s syndrome have found a common thread some children cannot use wha they have already Learned As a platform to learn More instead they seem to lose some earlier knowledge. In one study Ann Fowler of the Haskins laboratories in new Haven. Conn., found a rapid Rise in language skills irom age 4 to 6. The learning corresponded to what other children accomplish from 18 months to about 2vz years old. But one closely studied girl showed a loss in language skills at age 6. That is completely unparalleled in the Normal developmental sequence but agrees with anecdotal reports about other children Fowler said. A similar trend appears in How infants Wilh Down s syndrome learn to find hidden objects according to experiments by Jenoler Wishart of the psychology department at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland she studied babies up to age 2 initially they reached various milestones with Hal skill at Ages similar to xhosa of other children although they needed extra experience with the Lask. But Ihen rather than being encouraged by continued Success they seemed 1o lose interest and their scores dropped essentially Wishart said. They were failing to capitalize on their earlier learning. It s almost As if they Don t see the relevance of doing something Over and Over  Wishart said. Eventually an unused skill May disappear she said. Ii some children Wilh Down s syndrome respond differently to Success intervention strategies will have to take Hal into account she said we be got to gel a belter description of what goes on normally in Tho natural course of their learning Wishart said. You want them to learn to learn to learn that learning is enjoyable " Arizona s Nadel said such results suggest they can achieve a Loi More than they scorn capable of letting us know about or that they themselves can capitalize on because they tend to lose l " in researchers can find ways to help the children retain learning and capitalize on it for additional learning to said who knows How much further they could go. Tuesday december 29.1987 the stars and stripes Page 17