David Crosby Has Mixed Feelings About Donating Sperm Again
November 14th, 2006 8:51am EST
Rocker David Crosby was disappointed when he learned Melissa Etheridge and her lesbian lover Julie Cypher were splitting up because he donated sperm to help them conceive two children. Crosby wanted to help his friends become parents, and the couple’s son Beckett was born in 1998, followed by daughter Bailey in 2000.
He famously posed with Etheridge, Cypher and their children for a Rolling Stone cover, where the world discovered Crosby’s role in the conception. To his dismay, Etheridge and Cypher decided to split up seven months later and now share custody of the two children. Cypher is married to Matthew Hale while Etheridge is married to actress Tammy Lynn Michaels, who recently gave birth to twins using an anonymous sperm donor.
He tells People, “Would I be a sperm donor again? I don’t know. It’s such a personal thing. It’s discouraging how this worked out, because one of the main reasons that (wife Jan and I) did it was because of the love between Julie and Melissa, who have obviously transferred that affection to new partners. But both women have brought the kids up here and been with me at different times.
“It’s very kind of them both to let me spend time with the kids, because our official deal was that I signed papers relinquishing parental rights of any sort after I made my gift. They’re great kids, they’re very special people in my life.”