While most of Michelle Ottey’s day is spent sitting behind a computer in her office, hers is about as far from the average desk job that you can get.
Ottey is the lab director for Fairfax Cryobank. The sperm bank — which was founded in 1986 and is part of the Genetics and IVF Institute — is headquartered in Fairfax, Va. In her role, Ottey oversees the labs in all six of the company’s locations, stretching from Texas to the Philadelphia location at 34th and Market.
Ottey, 38, is responsible for everything from staff training to compliance to community outreach for the company, which banks sperm for women and couples seeking to start families and for those experiencing infertility or other complications.
When sperm banking started, Ottey explained, the industry was focused on heterosexual couples struggling to get pregnant, but Fairfax’s client base has since shifted.
“The majority of our clients are either single women who haven’t partnered but who are ready to do this or lesbian couples,” she said.
Fairfax also works with “known” donors. In addition to heterosexual couples experiencing infertility, Fairfax sees same-sex couples who want to use sperm of a friend or relative. They also work with transgender people who want to bank their sperm prior to transition in case they want a genetic child in the future, and have seen patients who bank in case of risk from treatments such as chemotherapy. Police, firefighters and others in high-risk positions have also banked with them, as have military members.
“There’s obviously been a lot going on in the country over the years, with military being sent all over, so we offer a discounted banking program for military where they can have a year of free storage,” Ottey said. “And we have had successes of people being able to have children after their partner has been killed in action.”
For women seeking an unknown donor, they do so largely through an extensive online catalog, where they’re provided a wealth of non-identifying background details on the donors.
“You see so much information. From baby photos to essays the donors wrote to down to when their mother went gray. You can find out so much,” Ottey said. “Some people call our client-services department and walk through it with them on who to pick and other times they do it with friends, opening up a bottle of wine and saying, ‘Which do you like?’”
Adult photos of the donors are not supplied, but Fairfax employs a program called Face Match, where clients can upload a picture and see which donors resemble that photo.
“It’s based on a system the FBI developed for facial recognition,” Ottey said. “It matches something like 40 points on the face. It’s not going to tell you that someone looks like Bradley Cooper or something, but it will tell you who might resemble the person whose photo you uploaded based on facial structures.”
Within a week of the technology being implemented, clients had uploaded thousands of photos, Ottey said.
Price for the sperm varies — according to the brand (Fairfax or Cryogenic Laboratories, Inc.), method of preparation and whether or not the clients want a completely anonymous donor or an ID-optional one, where the resultant child can search for the donor once he or she turns 18 — with one vial ranging from $300-$700. Clients are advised to order several vials, as the first attempt usually only has a 20-percent success rate, and in case they may want a biological sibling for their child in the future.
The sperm is stored at the Virginia headquarters and can be sent to an individual clinician or to the local Fairfax office for client pickup.
Ordering multiple vials can get expensive but, Ottey noted, the price is understandable when you examine the work that goes into getting the specimen ready.
Unlike popular conceptions of sperm banks as hubs for starving college students to make some quick cash, Fairfax employs a rigorous donor-screening process.
Donors, who must be between 18-39, start by completing a short online application and, if they meet the initial criteria, they then fill out the medical application, which includes a three-generation family history, or four generations if the potential donor has his own kids, which about 20 percent do.
Then, the applicant comes in to provide a semen specimen, delivered in the highly sterile collection room that Ottey joked surprises some, who might expect pornography to be hanging on the walls. Such materials are instead kept in a closed drawer, and donors are encouraged to bring tablets or other personal collections for their viewing pleasure.
The lab staff examines three or four separate specimens to ensure it’s healthy and can survive the freeze-thaw process. Ottey noted that Fairfax’s screening standard is above that of the World Health Organization’s baseline, as they’re looking for sperm with a high count and high motility to ensure they’re selling a good product. If the applicant’s sample is deemed acceptable, he undergoes blood and genetic testing, a physical and interview before being admitted into the program.
Fairfax has between 150-200 donors actively participating at any given time, about 60 percent of whom are 21-29, 20 percent under 21 and 20 percent over 30. The donors usually spend anywhere from six months to two years in the program. Donors can be compensated up to about $4,000 every six months.
While the money is the biggest draw for the donors, Ottey said, that’s often not the only motivator.
“I did a survey last year and had over 200 current and past donors respond and we asked their motivation. Compensation was number-one but number-two was that they had a personal connection. More than 50 percent of the guys said this,” Ottey said. “They knew someone who had a miscarriage or knew a couple dealing with male infertility or had gay friends. I thought that was amazing. Infertility is almost taboo. It’s very private, very emotional, but it’s such an important topic that touches so many people’s lives. It’s a shame it’s not talked about more, but it’s great that so many of our donors cited that personal reason. There is altruism, a sense that they want to help.”
Fairfax was recently featured on a CNN special by Lisa Ling on sperm banking. The company randomly selected a donor to offer up as a source and his story, Ottey said, exemplified the factors that bring many men to their door.
“He and his wife had recently had a child and wanted to buy a house but it’s hard in this environment to make money and save so he was looking for extra work but didn’t want to be away from his newborn. So he thought, ‘Maybe I’ll do sperm banking. I know it works.’ But they were a little hesitant until a friend came to them and said that he and his wife were having problems getting pregnant and were going to have to use a donor. And they saw that as a sign so he applied and made it in. He was picked randomly for the interview but he was that perfect story of needing the compensation but also having that personal connection.”
It is her own personal connection that she is able to make with the donors and clients, Ottey said, that initially drew her to Fairfax.
Ottey, a Philadelphia native, completed her undergraduate work at Rosemont College and went on to earn a Ph.D. in genetics from Jefferson University. She did her post-doc at University of Pennsylvania.
“I was doing benchwork research, which is great but it’s just not for me. I’m definitely a person who needs more social interaction at my job and I’m really drawn to things where I can be in science but also get into managing and administrative work,” she said.
A lab supervisor position at Fairfax arose in 2006, for which Ottey was selected. She went on to take additional professional development and education courses, and was certified as a High Complexity Clinical Lab Director, allowing her to move up to her current position.
She works out of Fairfax’s Philly office but, because of the nationwide nature of the company, spends a lot of time virtually meeting with the site managers and lab directors at the other sites, through conference calls and video chats.
Just like Fairfax’s operations, Ottey’s responsibilities run the gamut.
She oversees proficiency and training, making sure the staff’s technical skills stay fresh and qualifying site managers as technical supervisors. She works closely with the compliance officer to ensure all operations are within regulations, and writes and reviews protocols. She oversees site managers’ projects and undertakes data analysis, research — such as on different pH papers to grade the pH in patient samples on the day of PGN’s visit — and administrative projects like revamping the donor program’s application process.
“I wear a lot of hats, so it’s pretty hard to get bored,” Ottey said.
She also does company outreach, frequently speaking at educational conferences and panels, such as at the recent Philadelphia Family Pride conference.
“That’s probably my favorite part of my job,” she said. “I love being able to do family-building events and being able to see how much the work we’re doing actually touches people’s lives. I got in touch with someone recently on Facebook who I was good friends with in college and it turns out she and her wife have a child from one of our donors. I find that part of the job so fulfilling.”
But, that’s not to say she doesn’t revel in the scientific aspect of the work.
Ottey said she was a self-proclaimed science nerd from childhood and cemented her desire to work in such a setting through an elementary-school program.
“I was a kid in the ’80s and went to Catholic grade school and it was really hard to be a girl interested in science. In the seventh grade, the Academy of Natural Sciences was having this after-school and summer program for kids who have the potential to go into the sciences. I really wanted to do it but my teacher was picking boys. I was so shy when I was a kid, but I volunteered and it was the best thing I could have done.”
Ottey and her classmates spent one or two afternoons during the school week, and three days during the summer, immersed in all things science, from field trips to studying fossils.
“I knew I wanted to do something in science. I just didn’t know what that meant,” she said. “In high school, I loved genetics when we covered it in biology. And in college, I thought pre-med, then maybe environmental science, then maybe even political science, doing something with medicine. I was all over the place and then junior year I took molecular genetics and, it’s so nerdy, but it was like a lightbulb just went off. I got it and I knew that’s what I wanted to do. So I went to grad school and did cell biology and molecular genetics.”
But, Ottey said, it’s not studying science, but rather sharing it, that motivates her.
“I love science but what I love about it most is talking to people outside of science. Bill Nye and Neil deGrasse Tyson are my heroes; I actually wrote about Bill Nye in my grad-school application. I don’t know why they let me in,” she laughed. “I studied andrology and male reproduction and I of course have worked on that in the lab but I get to take that to family-building events, to conferences. I don’t necessarily talk about the specifics of the science, but the donor screening, the eligibility determination, everything that goes into it. I love sharing with the public what we do here.”
Not everyone, however, is completely receptive to the work that Fairfax does.
Ottey said she has gotten mixed reactions when she explains to people what she does for a living.
“Some people are like, ‘Oh my God, that’s really cool. What is that like?’ and others say, ‘Um, I have to go get a drink,’” she said, noting she takes the responses in stride. “It’s interesting to see people’s responses and I’ve definitely gotten some funny questions. I have a sense of humor about it, but I also take it very seriously. When I talk to people, I make it clear that we’re very professional. I care so much about our staff, and I want all of our donors to feel comfortable and safe.”
Another sometimes-challenging conversation Ottey faces is about her sexuality.
She came out in her senior year of college and said that, over the years, her own enhanced ease about her identity, coupled with changing perceptions about LGBT people, has aided the continuous coming-out process.
“It wasn’t easy for everyone I knew, I lost a couple friends over it and it was hard for family. But it’s a part of who I am, and I got to the point where I saw that if anyone can’t accept all of me then that’s their choice and that helped it become a lot easier over time, because coming out is something you have to do over and over,” she said. “I introduce my wife and then we kind of wait a second because you have to gauge the reaction and then keep going.”
Ottey and her wife have been together for 16 years.
They were joined in a commitment ceremony in 2002 and were married in Delaware this past spring, a decision that germinated from last summer’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturning the federal ban on same-sex marriage.
“We were both in meetings that day and just texting each other and crying and she was like, ‘Let’s just get married’ and I was joking like, ‘Well I don’t see a ring on that finger.’ And then two days later, we were at home and I was like, ‘Our anniversary is a Saturday, we should really think about this.’”
When they drove to Delaware to pick up their marriage license, that’s when the meaning started to hit home, Ottey said.
“It didn’t really feel real until then. During the ceremony, when the officiant said the part about, ‘I pronounce you, by the laws in Delaware and the United States …’ everybody started cheering. It feels different now. And when I refer to my wife in conversations, people know what that means.”
Some friends joked that, given Ottey’s line of work, the next step after the wedding was a baby, but Ottey said she and her wife are “happy aunts” to their nieces and nephews and are not planning to take the baby step.
Criticism of same-sex parenting, however, is often used by LGBT opponents, which Ottey cited as one of the most difficult aspects of her work.
“There is a lot of controversy around what we do, and hearing arguments against what we do is challenging,” she said. “I try to maintain the personal-professional line but it does sometimes feel personal when I hear criticism, even if it’s not directed at us. To hear politicians use marriage equality and LGBT people having children as wedge issues, knowing the work that we do to build families and how wanted these children are, is challenging.”
While marriage-equality laws are rapidly changing, others that affect Ottey’s field of work still need progress. For instance, she said, the ban on blood donation by gay men also extends to sperm donation.
Gay men can be used as known donors for friends or family members, but are ineligible for the donor catalog, because of the FDA regulations.
Ottey has been in touch with and offered herself as an expert source for the Human Rights Campaign effort to revise the donation laws, and to a local Congressman who is interested in legislative efforts to do the same.
“There is no medical reason to exclude gay men from donating blood or sperm. The testing technology we have is incredible, and the reason these regulations were used in the past are not relevant anymore. It’s really challenging because I have that personal connection, plus it’s just the general human fairness of it all.”
But, Ottey said, that frustration is assuaged whenever she sees the individual impact Fairfax’s work has on its clients.
“Seeing these families being built, the wall of photos of these babies at our headquarters, reading the testimonials from couples who say they just welcomed their child and couldn’t have done it without Fairfax, that’s so heartwarming and fulfilling,” she said. “And going to these events and taking people’s questions and seeing them realize that this is actually attainable, they can do this, is amazing. I think the younger generation may have grown up not thinking they couldn’t do this but people in their mid-30s, a lot of people who are at the age of wanting children, a lot didn’t grow up thinking this was ever going to be an option for us. So it’s so gratifying to be able to show people that it is.”
For more information about Fairfax Cryobank, visit www.fairfaxcryobank.com.