And the lucky number is.....

Blonde hair, blue or green eyes, 6'0 or taller, athletic, funny, smart.... You wouldn't think these traits would be that difficult to come by! Think again!! Six sperm banks and approximately one hundred and eighty-three donor profiles later, we've finally found our guy. The specimen that will someday contribute to our future child's DNA is on its way to Atlanta via FedEx and dry ice as we speak.

Admittedly, my attitude about the whole thing had become less than positive. I had been beaten down by the dozens of profiles that were not only NOT perfect -- but in my opinion wouldn't even qualify as mediocre. There was the very self-assured guy who said while he never wanted to have children of his own he was donating so that as many children as possible could be blessed with his athletic ability, good looks, well above average intelligence and amazing physique. There was a political activist who used his essay portion of the profile to explain how corrupt our society is and how he would probably never bring a child into the world, but since the money was decent, he'd donate so others could if they wanted. Then there were the donors that while I thought they would be a good candidate - the yoga loving, philosophy major… the lovely Lisa didn't feel the same way. I think her exact words were - He's a total and complete tool. Then there were her choices - the manly man that loved sports and the outdoors - but when it came to the clinic staff impressions he was polite, but all business and seemed nervous. (What is there to be nervous about??) Oh, and there was a slight case of alcoholism in his family.

Monday night, at the end of my rope -- I suggested to Lisa that we re-enter our search criteria at the bank we had decided to use and look again. Maybe we had missed a good one? Surely there had to be ONE that we could both agree on??! So we did. We checked all the appropriate boxes and hit the search button. We opened up the second profile on the list. We read through the short profile and opened up the longer version -- we both (almost simultaneously) agreed that he was the one. The sky opened up and we could hear the hallelujah chorus! We had found the perfect man! He was everything we both wanted in a donor and maybe even a little bit more. He was athletic and sensitive, gave good answers on his essay and had a good speaking voice. The clinic staff impressions of him were also really good! We had found a winner!!!! Lucky number 184!! (Or as the clinic calls him 1923.)

Tuesday I called to make the arrangements with the bank. I placed the order, gave them my credit card and uploaded a baby picture of our donor. He was a really adorable toddler and amazingly enough he resembles Lisa quite a bit. When we looked at the picture together, we both felt it was the perfect decision. The perfect decision on the donor, and the perfect decision to try to have a family.

I've read the profile a dozen times. I've printed the picture and have looked at it over and over. After months of discussion, searching, testing and at times even procrastinating - regardless of the outcome, our lives are about to change.