CheezCake

Sperm Donor Dad Connects With 19 Of His Children

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  • Mike Rubino, an artist from Los Angeles, is known across the United States and beyond as Donor 929.

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    In his 30's, Rubino decided to become a donor to help others start families. Most donors remain anonymous, but not him.


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  • He decided to put in his file so that if any of his kids would turn up at any time, they would know he is available.

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    Rubino made those initial connections with his offspring not from the sperm bank but via the Donor Sibling Registry, a nonprofit created by Wendy Kramer in 2000 that has connected thousands of donors with their offspring and offspring with their half-siblings over the years. Before he knew it, more and more kids started contacting him and he would write back right away.


  • Rubino opened his home to the kids. He has 19 photos of smiling children on a shelf in his living room.

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    All of his children were excited to meet each other and also noted their similarities, like their bubbly energy. In addition, at least 11 of them have blue eye, just like their father. His sperm has impregnated women in California, Massachusetts, Hawaii, Louisiana, New Mexico, New York, Arkansas, Ohio, Colorado and Maryland. Oh, and the Cayman Islands, a British territory.


  • He never dreamed that one day he would not only be in contact with 18 of those children (he has no idea how many children in total he has fathered), but that some of them would call him ‘Dad.’

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    What's more, he's now living with and helping to raise one of those children, Jake Strassberg, now 19, with Jake's mom, Kare, now 58 and a paralegal.


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