I was on a radio program called Hack here in Australia. It's a youth current affairs show & this particular show included a topic about donors being able to choose who or more so who they do not wish their donations to go to. If you skip to around 6:57, it starts there. Another donor conceived person was also on the program.
Here is the link to the show.
Friday, November 30, 2007
Saturday, November 03, 2007
New website for donor conceived people searching for their fathers
http://www.SearchingForMySpermDonorFather.org/
A big thank you to Tom who set this up and who is doing brilliantly helping to make a real difference for donor conceived people around the world.
A big thank you to Tom who set this up and who is doing brilliantly helping to make a real difference for donor conceived people around the world.
Sunday, September 09, 2007
My letter in the Age newspaper
Fighting for the right to know
AS A young woman who was conceived via anonymous donor sperm in 1981, I do acknowledge that not all donor-conceived people or adoptees, like Michael Nolan (Letters, 4/9), are as eager as I to seek out their true birth origins. I do believe, however, that there is a difference in having the option of knowing and not being afforded the right to begin with. All adoptees in Victoria have the opportunity to seek their birth records, while the story is very different for donor-conceived people, especially those of us born before legislation. We have no opportunity, no right to information that is ours. Not all believe that biology is important, but that is beside the point. A person should not have to fight for information that is rightfully theirs.
Whether it is a matter of identity or not, this is a human rights issue that has been swept under the carpet for far too long. I agree with Michael Nolan that life is grand. It is this grandness, this mystery that entices me to know all that I can about myself and the world. I want to see how it all fits, I want to see where I fit, how I came to be and everything in between. Isn't that what being human is about?
Those of us who do choose to search for their information should have the freedom to do so. I love and respect my parents who raised me and I also love and respect the man who helped to bring me into this world. It is important that ALL donor-conceived people are awarded the same rights as adoptees in Victoria.
AS A young woman who was conceived via anonymous donor sperm in 1981, I do acknowledge that not all donor-conceived people or adoptees, like Michael Nolan (Letters, 4/9), are as eager as I to seek out their true birth origins. I do believe, however, that there is a difference in having the option of knowing and not being afforded the right to begin with. All adoptees in Victoria have the opportunity to seek their birth records, while the story is very different for donor-conceived people, especially those of us born before legislation. We have no opportunity, no right to information that is ours. Not all believe that biology is important, but that is beside the point. A person should not have to fight for information that is rightfully theirs.
Whether it is a matter of identity or not, this is a human rights issue that has been swept under the carpet for far too long. I agree with Michael Nolan that life is grand. It is this grandness, this mystery that entices me to know all that I can about myself and the world. I want to see how it all fits, I want to see where I fit, how I came to be and everything in between. Isn't that what being human is about?
Those of us who do choose to search for their information should have the freedom to do so. I love and respect my parents who raised me and I also love and respect the man who helped to bring me into this world. It is important that ALL donor-conceived people are awarded the same rights as adoptees in Victoria.
Sunday, September 02, 2007
Thanks be to the fathers
Happy Father's Day to my dad, who raised me as his own daughter and nurtured me into the person I am today.
Happy Father's Day to T5, who gave me life through his own and is with me always.
Happy Father's Day to T5, who gave me life through his own and is with me always.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Melbourne Child article
It has been a while. I don't know.. I think sometimes I can't deal with all of this anymore, and it's so easy to push to the back of my head when I can't handle it. There is so much going on in my life right now besides this that I have had to take another break I guess. I didn't intend to really. Anyways..
I did an interview for a free Magazine here in Melbourne (Australia) called Melbourne's Child. This is my part of the article:
"When Narelle was 15 she found out she was conceived using an anonymous sperm donor at Prince Henry Hospital. It had an enourmous impact on her life, and still does, especially as she cannot access any identifying information about him. "I want to know more about my genetic history and my medical background," she says. "It's something everyone takes for granted that donor-conceived people are often denied. I want to know more; his personality, his interests, what he's done with his life. People are a mixture of nature and nurture and to downplay either is wrong. There are some genetic influences that are undeniable and it's ignorant to say otherwise."
Narelle, and others like her, struggle with issues of identity and seperation, and often have a sense of feeling incomplete, even though they regard the people who raised them as their parents and love them dearly. Says Narelle "I suppose the main thing for me is that I feel a little disconnected; a kind of gut feeling that I'm not quite 100 per cent or something. I don't know things i should know to answer questions in my life. People shouldn't be lied to about something as fundamental as who they are. I know it's not really plausible to do, but i think parents shouldn't have the choice not to tell their children. The truth should be on the birth certificate and there should be a national register and no more anonymity."
One of the other significant issues for donor-conceived people is that of half siblings. Even today. sperm donors can donate up to 10 families, creating a significant pool of half-brothers and sisters. "I know that I have at least eight half-siblings," Narelle says, "and all in different families and we live in a small city... I think donors should only be allowed to donate to one family"
Fin.
I did an interview for a free Magazine here in Melbourne (Australia) called Melbourne's Child. This is my part of the article:
"When Narelle was 15 she found out she was conceived using an anonymous sperm donor at Prince Henry Hospital. It had an enourmous impact on her life, and still does, especially as she cannot access any identifying information about him. "I want to know more about my genetic history and my medical background," she says. "It's something everyone takes for granted that donor-conceived people are often denied. I want to know more; his personality, his interests, what he's done with his life. People are a mixture of nature and nurture and to downplay either is wrong. There are some genetic influences that are undeniable and it's ignorant to say otherwise."
Narelle, and others like her, struggle with issues of identity and seperation, and often have a sense of feeling incomplete, even though they regard the people who raised them as their parents and love them dearly. Says Narelle "I suppose the main thing for me is that I feel a little disconnected; a kind of gut feeling that I'm not quite 100 per cent or something. I don't know things i should know to answer questions in my life. People shouldn't be lied to about something as fundamental as who they are. I know it's not really plausible to do, but i think parents shouldn't have the choice not to tell their children. The truth should be on the birth certificate and there should be a national register and no more anonymity."
One of the other significant issues for donor-conceived people is that of half siblings. Even today. sperm donors can donate up to 10 families, creating a significant pool of half-brothers and sisters. "I know that I have at least eight half-siblings," Narelle says, "and all in different families and we live in a small city... I think donors should only be allowed to donate to one family"
Fin.
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