Born from the same stranger ITV tonight

We have an IVF baby in our family, a little miracle, but not from stranger donor. Thank goodness.
The desire to have a child from a donor, precludes any thoughts of the distant future.
Perhaps DNA testing at birth, kept on file, for comparing in later life would stop disasters just waiting to happen.

My daughter and husband had IVF and the two girls are very stable young ladies in their teens. I have known men who have been just sperm donors in the past and never had anything todo with their own children. I will watch the programme at a later date. I always thought that the offspring might end up with issues in the future.

DollyD

It was quite shocking how often the same donor was used, it would have been more ethical if there had been a limit.
I felt very sorry for the people in this programme finding out they had so many half siblings.
As one commented, it felt very contractual, the donor being paid and their parents then having paid for the treatment.

It was quite shocking. A few years ago there was a prog on TV about sperm donors and it featured a man who looked to be in his 50s who went all over the country in his van dropping off his sperm donations. He said most of his customers were lesbians. I found it quite creepy. His donations then were well in the hundreds, probably in the thousands now. I don’t agree with this.

We joked because there are AID girls around the corner from us. Their lesbian mothers found a donor online. Although the daughters are about 2.5 years apart they are more like identical twins than some twins I know. They have very blonde curly hair, very wide mouths and huge eyes just like the man on TV. You never know!

It was quite shocking how often the same donor was used, it would have been more ethical if there had been a limit.
I felt very sorry for the people in this programme finding out they had so many half siblings.
As one commented, it felt very contractual, the donor being paid and their parents then having paid for the treatment.

The donor tonight was donating twice a week for most of the eighties !!!!

A half brother and half sister trying to find their bio father together. At last the woman addresses the elephant in the room, ie incest, as there are a shocking number of other half siblings.

One of the earliest AID babies born in 1960 has 9 half siblings having been an only child.

I’m watching the half brother and sister seem so alike but what a bloody minefield. I feel a bit sorry for the donors as most of them were students and this will have such a personal impact on tgem too

Adopted kids have always been keen to find their birth parents and many have spent decades searching. For some it has caused massive emotional problems and heartache. Books have been written, films made, TV progs galore, reuniting progs bringing families together.

I feel IVF is going to be an even bigger can of worms for years to come.

Wow! What a programme! And a complete minefield with so many different aspects such as the young woman who was born from a donated embryo!

And such a tricky pathway for the people seeking their donor but also for the parents who are having to watch their adult children start this process.

Thinking laterally there is an interesting podcast called ‘ The Gift It is a six parter and one episode covers looking at the DNA of sperm donors The whole series is very interesting Including such things as predisposition to diseases

Thank you for mentioning that maddy. IVF is a tortuous business, and most straight couples don’t need a donor.

maddyone

Sounds like an interesting programme but can I just say, children born from IVF are normally born to their natural parents, who go through a lot to simply have a child. I think you meant to say children born via sperm or egg donation. Whilst this can involve IVF, most IVF children are not born from donors.
I have three grandchildren born from IVF and their parents are the two people who went through IVF to have them.

Yes, I see what you mean. I have a few friends who have grandchildren born via IVF. The kids on this prog were all from sperm donors.

It’s all moving too fast for me to keep up.😉 I remember being on a maternity ward with one of mine and looking at a big whiteboard near the nurses desk. It listed room numbers, patient names and other info. Against one it said AIH and I asked what that meant and the nurse said Artificial Insemination by Husband. Another said AID and I was told that was Artificial Insemination by Donor.

Obviously with patient confidentiality etc these days that wouldn’t happen and rightly so.

This is similar to the recent programme Seeds of Deceit about a German doctor who impregnated countless women with his sperm. I'm sure it has been done many times because some men like the idea of leaving countless descendants behind.
www.gransnet.com/forums/tv_radio_film_arts/1330337-Seeds-of-Deceit-on-BBC4-and-iPlayer?msgid=30367644

It's just awful because every child has the right to know who their father is. It can be heartbreaking not knowing your heritage. Also, these children can meet up with siblings without knowing and may form a relationship.

I do wonder...is it that people want to understand / know their background (heritage etc) or are they hoping for a relationship?

The people last night seemed to have the right approach in taking it slowly and mulling over the ethics involved.

Comedian Simon Evans didnt even know that his parents had used sperms donation until he did a DNA test out of pure curiosity. Discovering that one of his parents could not possibly be the birth parent was just the first shock - he has since discovered that he has literally hundreds (estimated to be over 600) of half siblings. It transpired that the owner of the fertility clinic, Bertold Wiesner, had used his own sperm to impregnate many of the women.

Sounds like an interesting programme but can I just say, children born from IVF are normally born to their natural parents, who go through a lot to simply have a child. I think you meant to say children born via sperm or egg donation. Whilst this can involve IVF, most IVF children are not born from donors.
I have three grandchildren born from IVF and their parents are the two people who went through IVF to have them.

I really enjoyed this program though fundamentally quite sad. I fear for the youth of the future, it is going to be a massive medical issue years down the line.

Yes BlueBelle, they did all seem to gel with each other.

Interesting programme and although none of those four half siblings looked alike (well I didn’t think they did) they seemed to bond immediately