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.