Personal stories
We are very grateful to all those who have taken the time to write about their personal experiences of donor conception and issues relating to it. These stories are invaluable in helping to share common feelings around complex issues. Reading about how others have dealt with things is often very reassuring.
Use the drop-down options to search for particular story types. And if you would like to contribute your own story, please do get in touch with us.
Dad via sperm donation with known donor
'After a considerable amount of time attempting to conceive, both my partner and I got checked out, and at the end of all the testing I found out that I was infertile. After counselling and rigorous investigation, we decided that we would opt for a known donor if possible.'
Kate - Donor conceived adult
'I was conceived through anonymous sperm donation and IVF, and born in the nineties to Mum (Andrea) and Dad (Richard). I am an only child in my family, but have eighteen (anonymous) half-siblings from the same donor.'
NETWORK MEETINGS: Recalling the Rawness
After 10 years in the DC Network Clare and Paul Wells wrote about why the national meetings are still important for their family.
NETWORK MEETINGS: Reflections Over the Years
Laura reflects on the impact of several DCN national meetings during her husband's and her journey to parenthood using a known sperm donor
Families’ Experiences of Sharing Information about Donor Conception -
by Professor Eric Blyth - Talk at DC Network meeting
Feeling Good: What helps children & teenagers feel good about themselves as donor conceived people?
What makes us the sort of people that we are? How much are we influenced by our parents when it is our parents who bring us up? How much is down to our genes? And how much is down to the environment that we live in?
Being a Family: Raising children well
This is the talk given at the 2003 March national meeting in London by Mary MacLeod, then Chief Executive of the National Family and Parenting Institute.
You’re not my father/mother anyway
Olivia Montuschi offers some supportive insights into the fear that haunts parents of donor conceived children.... Anxieties about rejection by our children, particularly as they become teenagers, are very common, but understanding these fears in the context of developmental stages and needs of both children and parents can help.
Richard's Australian Story
I came home from the shops one day, delighted that I had bought the baby clothes for my cousin's new baby.