Knock yourself up

On a whim, while at the mall and needing a distraction I happened upon a book on the clearance rack called "Knock Yourself Up".  I'm less than 100 pages in, but I've already learned some of the questions I need to ask myself, things that I wouldn't imagine most people consider before thrusting themselves into these thoughts.

If I follow through...

• Open or anonymous donation:  do I want the option for my child to be able to contact their biological father after they turn 18?
• What to see and what to leave to chance:  do I want to pay a few extra dollars to see a childhood photo or hear an audio interview with a potential donor?
• What to base my selection on:  should I look for someone 'similar' to me so the child is more likely to look more like me or go for what I find attractive and question what I see in a child as 'traits' of a person unknown?

But looming larger than the clinical type questions...

• How do I bring this up to my mother?
• How do I explain this to people who didn't think I wanted kids for all those years?
• Can I do it on my own?
• What if I lost my job?

 The questions inside seem endless.  But I think they outweigh the possible regrets and what ifs that might come up in 15 years if I don't follow through.