Celebrity Look-Alike Sperm Donors: A Superficial Service?
Donors who resemble stars like Ben Affleck -- even Jon Gosselin -- take off.
Oct. 20, 2009— -- What if you could "birth" it like Beckham?
In other words, what if you could deliver a baby boy who'd grow up with the chiseled good looks of the international soccer star David Beckham? Or maybe you'd prefer offspring with the matinee idol visage of Ben Affleck? Or a baby boy who'll one day resemble Duane "The Rock" Johnson?
Celebrity worship, it seems, has gone in utero. No longer is it enough to name your baby after your favorite star. With the help of the California Cryobank fertility clinic in Los Angeles, your child might actually look like that star.
"It can be the shape of the eyes, the nose, the mouth, any specific feature," said Scott Brown, director of communications at California Cryobank. "It can be the shape of the head. It can be the complexion. It can even be the hairstyle because you're talking about [what] someone looks like. That's what we're going for."
It's a service that's bound to cause confusion over the question, "Who's your daddy?"
At California Cryobank, which has been in business for over 30 years and says it accepts only 1 percent of sperm-donor applicants, members of the staff sift through their long list of anonymous sperm donors. Then they vote to decide which of them are dead ringers for movie stars and athletes. Would-be parents can then pick which celeb they'd like their baby to resemble.
"Right now, the top guys on our list are Paul Walker, who was in 'The Fast and the Furious.' Ben Affleck is very popular. Scott Caan is popular," Brown told "Nightline." "Brett Favre is actually pretty popular. Jeremy Shockey was in the top 10 the last time I checked. It's a pretty wide range of guys."
He also mentioned Greg Grunberg of the TV show "Heroes" among the most popular picks.
Celebrity look-alike sperm may seem superficial, but before you write off the idea, meet 33-year-old Alice Crisci, the California Cryobank client behind it.
"It humanizes the entire experience," she said. "It even brings a little levity to an overwhelming, emotional scary time in a woman's life."
Diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer at just 31, Crisci would lose her breasts and hair and feared that she would lose her chance at motherhood.
