( CNN ) -- It sounds like the plot of a Hollywood movie : An eccentric millionaire creates a sperm bank with donations from only extraordinary men -- Nobel laureates , an Olympic athlete and geniuses with off-the-chart IQs . The mission ? To create a generation of smarter , healthier , more productive members of society . But this was no movie plot . This actually happened . Robert K. Graham -- a businessman who made his fortune after inventing shatterproof eyeglasses -- founded the Repository for Germinal Choice in 1980 . It operated until 1999 , two years after his death . Graham was very clear about his motives : He wanted to improve the human gene pool . `` The better the human gene pool , the better the individuals who will come out of it , '' Graham said . `` And the poorer the human gene pool , the more useless and detrimental individuals will come out of it . '' Not surprisingly , the so-called `` Nobel Prize sperm bank '' attracted controversy and accusations that Graham was a racist , resurrecting the ideas that gave rise to Nazi Germany -- something he denied . On Sunday , some of the men and women who were born as a result of Graham 's project reveal how their lives have evolved on this week 's episode of `` This is Life with Lisa Ling . '' Here are some interesting facts about the Repository for Germinal Choice : . It did n't cost that much . Women who applied for Graham 's genius sperm only had to come up a $ 50 application fee and $ 10 a month for storage and shipping costs , according to a 1984 New York Times article on the sperm bank . The moms did n't have to be geniuses . They had to be married ( although there was an exception made for at least one single mother ) , but the mothers did not have to take an IQ test or go through any genetic screening . Donors were recruited on college campuses . Julianna McKillop , who worked for the repository from 1980 to 1985 , recalls traveling up and down the West Coast visiting elite college campuses looking for sperm donors . `` I 'd take the tanks of liquid nitrogen in Dr. Graham 's Cadillac and drive up to CalTech and talk to the students ( and professors ) , '' she told Lisa Ling . If someone was willing , she provided him a cup and some private time . She 'd store the donation in the back of the Cadillac with the liquid nitrogen . `` Can you imagine doing that ? It was n't easy to get a donor , they 'd kind of go like , 'Why are you in my office ? ' And I said , 'Well you have some genetic material and there 's some people out there that can use that , they would like to have a child . ' '' All the donors were white . While most of the donors remain anonymous , Graham did acknowledge that they were all white , according to David Plotz , author of `` The Genius Factory : The Curious History of the Nobel Prize Sperm Bank . '' But Graham strongly denied that he was a racist or a Nazi . `` We are n't thinking of a superrace , '' Graham said at a 1980 news conference , according to Plotz 's book . `` We are thinking in terms of a few more creative , intelligent people who otherwise might not be born . '' The sperm bank produced some 215 children -- and many lead quite ordinary lives today . Most of the progeny of the `` genius sperm bank '' who have spoken publicly say they did quite well in school . Today , as adults , many seem to be pretty ordinary : Tom runs a roofing business , Leandra is an opera singer , Courtney is a dancer , Logan has a form of autism . And several claim to feel pressure to do something extraordinary with their lives . As Tom puts it , `` I have to do something with the gifts that I 've been given . '' But Adrienne -- mother of Leandra , Courtney , and Logan -- says having `` genius sperm '' is no guarantee for happiness and success . `` There 's only so much you can control when it comes to genetics , '' she says . `` It all has to do with what you give to your family . '' Graham paved the way for how many sperm banks operate today . Despite all the criticism , Graham paved the way for couples to have more of a choice in determining their sperm donors -- something that is commonplace today , as more and more men and women seek fertility treatment . At the Fairfax Cryobank , less than 1 % of the men who apply to be donors actually become active donors , according to lab director Michelle Ottey . `` It 's a rigorous screening process , which is a good thing because we want really high-quality guys in the program , '' she explained . `` Statistically it 's easier to get into an Ivy League school than it is to get into the Fairfax donor program . ''
The Repository for Human Choice was an elite sperm bank that opened in 2004 . Its founder recruited only men of high intelligence and strong athletic ability . The so - called ` ` Nobel Prize sperm bank '' drew criticism . ` ` This is Life with Lisa Ling '' features some of the children born as a result .