"No genetic diseases" — My Big Fat Fabulous Life star Whitney on what she wants in her donor

My Big Fat Fabulous Life season 13 premiered on TLC on July 1, 2025. The segment documented Whitney Way Thore's life journey, as she navigated personal and professional responsibilities, while eager to start a new chapter of motherhood. On June 30, 2025, People magazine published a clip from the premiere episode, where Whitney spoke about what she wanted in her sperm donor.

Episode 1 saw the reality TV star embark on her search to find a sperm donor and begin the process of welcoming a child. While speaking to the My Big Fat Fabulous Life cameras, Whitney said:

"My criteria for a donor, I feel like, is pretty straightforward and simple. I absolutely do not care what color this child is, what color the eyes are, the hair is. Obviously I want the person to be healthy with no genetic diseases."

In one of the segments of the episode, Whitney was shown sitting at a table with some friends and going through a sperm database. While her friends listed features and characteristics they would not prefer their donor to have, Whitney approached a less "picky" route, saying she only wanted her donor to be healthy so she could have a healthy baby.

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My Big Fat Fabulous Life star Whitney starts the process of picking her sperm donor

The scene began with Whitney browsing the sperm database and going through the "personal preferences." While she looked at hair color, one of her friends chimed in, saying, "Not red." However, Whitney felt otherwise, recalling the time when she dated a "red head."

"Look, I'm not going to be picky. Red's fine," she added.

The My Big Fat Fabulous Life alum explained that her only criterion while selecting a donor was that the person should not have any genetic diseases. Whitney continued checking through a few more qualifications when she came across the category of height. She mentioned that she wanted her donor to be someone who was 5'7" or more.

While backing her choice, Whitney mentioned that she was "only 5'2" and did not want to bring a child into the world who was as short as her.

"Because it's hard being this short," she opined.

The My Big Fat Fabulous Life fame continued to click through the qualifications, when she noted that the process was overwhelming her. Whitney stated that choosing the right donor was "absolutely the most overwhelming thing" she had ever experienced. She compared it to a dating app "on steroids."

She hinted at the importance of her choice, noting that she was "literally" picking the father of her child, not someone with whom she would have a romantic connection.

While Whitney could evaluate her potential donor's physical attributes on the website, she could not comprehend how the person would be in real life.

"And so more than the physical, I really want to know, do they have a high IQ? You know, is this the brain of somebody I would pick in the wild?" she wondered.

Consequently, the My Big Fat Fabulous Life alum wondered if her potential donor had read enough books in their life or could read at all. Contemplating everything that could go wrong, Whitney confessed that she had never felt "more discouraged" in her life.

In another segment of the episode, Whitney opened up about the moment she realized she wanted to become a mother. She said that she wanted to become pregnant after hearing one of her British friends speak about her child as the "love of her life." However, Whitney was not interested in the traditional way of getting pregnant, so she considered getting artificial insemination.

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My Big Fat Fabulous Life season 13 airs Tuesdays at 9 pm ET only on TLC.