[silencio]

the limit is typically measured in families, and within those families we’re usually not talking a dozen children each. a sperm bank that limits to 10 families per donor will probably end up in the ballpark of 10-20 children. (10 families is a very conservative limit - most banks go higher.) there can be a mad scramble to buy “sibling” vials from an otherwise retired donor if a family decides that they are done with extra vials.

ivf nowadays is also very much more strict about what you transfer. i did ivf a few months ago and we only transferred one PGS tested, day 5 embryo because a second one was not going to do anything good for me or the pregnancy odds.

2-3 decades ago both the tech and the feelings around donor identities and limits were very different. but nowadays we’re moving towards smaller limits and open identity of some sort, while fewer donor gametes are necessary for people to get pregnant. it’s curious.