BEING a child is hard enough. Being a child conceived via sperm donation can be even more difficult.
If the child discovers they were born this way, is it easy enough to carry on regardless or will they go down the road of finding out who their real father is?
It's a dilemma faced by JoEllen Marsh which turned her life around in more ways than one. Donor Unknown follows JoEllen as she reveals everything she went through meeting her half-siblings and, ultimately, her donor father, Jeffrey.
It all happens thanks to website the Donor Sibling Registry - it brought JoEllen and Danielle together.
But a New York Times article about the girls sparked an online search that resulted in dozens of 20-somethings coming forward because they were conceived from the same man.
Describing her first meeting with half-sister Danielle as 'weird', this is a heart-warming look at a subject rarely discussed in public.
In it we meet JoEllen and her half-brothers-and-sisters as well as 'Donor 150' aka the sperm donor, Jeffrey.
Jeffrey likens himself to a 'fringe monkey' - someone who lives on the fringes of society, protecting others from danger. He loves dogs and pigeons and lives in a rusty old camper van on Venice Beach.
A self-confessed hippy who pursued acting and modelling in his younger years, his decision to donate sperm was the result of being chatted up by a woman looking for a donor.
It brings a smile to the face listening to the 'family' talk about the similar traits they share - piano playing, same large toes, the way they push hair behind their ears.
Geoffrey's views on life and government would be considered those of a conspiracy theorist, but in truth, he is harmless.
In the end, Donor Unknown is a light-hearted look at a side of life rarely revealed and avoids focusing on the negatives and firmly shows there can be a positive outcome.
If you missed the showing of Donor Unknown 28th June on More4, why not watch the DVD, due out 11th July.
Film review: by Garry McConnachie 29th June 2011 www.dailyrecord.co.uk
Read more about known sperm and egg donation and donors keeping in touch with their children at www.prideangel.com
Showing posts with label donor unknown. Show all posts
Showing posts with label donor unknown. Show all posts
Saturday, 2 July 2011
Sunday, 22 May 2011
Donor Unknown: Adventures in the Sperm Trade
Donor Unknown... a film about identity, genetic inheritance and the family of the future
JoEllen Marsh's life began 22 years ago in a pornography-lined, "collection" cubicle at the Los Angeles headquarters of California Cryobank, a private semen cryopreservation organisation. From there, the sample produced by her biological father, donor 150, was sent to Pennsylvania, where nine months later JoEllen was born to her biological mother, Lucinda Marsh.
Twenty years later, a remarkably accepting JoEllen is calmly recounting the story of how her innate desire to connect with her extended donor family has evolved into the subject of an absorbing documentary. Donor Unknown: Adventures in the Sperm Trade, is a compelling film that raises intriguing questions about nature versus nurture, modern medicine's evolving ethics and the shifting composition of contemporary families.
"Even when I was very young," says JoEllen, "I realised that my family wasn't like other families." Informed by her lesbian mothers from an early age that "a kind man they didn't know" had helped her to be born, the concept of a traditional father – or rather the lack of one – simply never arose.
"My upbringing seemed completely normal to me, as it was all I knew," says JoEllen, who grew up with a younger sister, Mollie, 16, born to the same mother but conceived from a different sperm donor.
But JoEllen had a lot of questions that couldn't be answered. "The way I moved was not like the rest of my family. And if you don't know who your father is, you wonder about the strangest things – what are his ears like? What is his forehead like? Why do I have these interests when no one else in my family does?"
To read more go to
JoEllen Marsh's life began 22 years ago in a pornography-lined, "collection" cubicle at the Los Angeles headquarters of California Cryobank, a private semen cryopreservation organisation. From there, the sample produced by her biological father, donor 150, was sent to Pennsylvania, where nine months later JoEllen was born to her biological mother, Lucinda Marsh.
Twenty years later, a remarkably accepting JoEllen is calmly recounting the story of how her innate desire to connect with her extended donor family has evolved into the subject of an absorbing documentary. Donor Unknown: Adventures in the Sperm Trade, is a compelling film that raises intriguing questions about nature versus nurture, modern medicine's evolving ethics and the shifting composition of contemporary families.
"Even when I was very young," says JoEllen, "I realised that my family wasn't like other families." Informed by her lesbian mothers from an early age that "a kind man they didn't know" had helped her to be born, the concept of a traditional father – or rather the lack of one – simply never arose.
"My upbringing seemed completely normal to me, as it was all I knew," says JoEllen, who grew up with a younger sister, Mollie, 16, born to the same mother but conceived from a different sperm donor.
But JoEllen had a lot of questions that couldn't be answered. "The way I moved was not like the rest of my family. And if you don't know who your father is, you wonder about the strangest things – what are his ears like? What is his forehead like? Why do I have these interests when no one else in my family does?"
To read more go to
Friday, 8 April 2011
'Donor Unknown' showing at Fringe film festival London 10th April
Fringe Film Festival
The Fringe film festival have programmed a special afternoon of films exploring families and identity on Sunday 10th April. Included in this is a special screening of a new documentary on donor families and post screening discussion.
Showing at 15:30 on 10th April is documentary called 'Donor Unknown', a warm, moving and surprising film about donor families. It tells the story of a network of half siblings, all conceived through the same sperm donor and their desire to meet each other and meet him.
It's a uniquely 21st-century story which raises intriguing questions about identity, family, parenthood – and the power of genetic connections. It was officially selected by Sundance, Tribecca Film Festival and Sheffield DocFest.
After the film there will be a Q&A session with producer Hilary Durman and Al Murrow and guests, where issues explored in the film will be discussed.
Donor Unknown
Donor Unknown follows the story of JoEllen Marsh, 20, as she goes in search of the sperm donor father she only knows as Donor 150.
JoEllen has always known her family ‘wasn't like other families'. She grew up in Pennsylvania with two mothers, and a burning curiosity to know more about her anonymous donor father. When JoEllen discovers a unique online registry that connects donor-conceived children, she manages to track down a half-sister in New York. The New York Times picks up the story, and, over time, 12 more half-siblings emerge across the USA.
The New York Times article also falls into the hands of Jeffrey Harrison, living alone with four dogs and a pigeon in a broken-down RV in a Venice Beach car park. In the 1980s, Jeffrey supplemented his meagre income by becoming a sperm donor at California Cryobank. His number was Donor 150.
To read more go to http://bit.ly/gnuAGN
The Fringe film festival have programmed a special afternoon of films exploring families and identity on Sunday 10th April. Included in this is a special screening of a new documentary on donor families and post screening discussion.
Showing at 15:30 on 10th April is documentary called 'Donor Unknown', a warm, moving and surprising film about donor families. It tells the story of a network of half siblings, all conceived through the same sperm donor and their desire to meet each other and meet him.
It's a uniquely 21st-century story which raises intriguing questions about identity, family, parenthood – and the power of genetic connections. It was officially selected by Sundance, Tribecca Film Festival and Sheffield DocFest.
After the film there will be a Q&A session with producer Hilary Durman and Al Murrow and guests, where issues explored in the film will be discussed.
Donor Unknown
Donor Unknown follows the story of JoEllen Marsh, 20, as she goes in search of the sperm donor father she only knows as Donor 150.
JoEllen has always known her family ‘wasn't like other families'. She grew up in Pennsylvania with two mothers, and a burning curiosity to know more about her anonymous donor father. When JoEllen discovers a unique online registry that connects donor-conceived children, she manages to track down a half-sister in New York. The New York Times picks up the story, and, over time, 12 more half-siblings emerge across the USA.
The New York Times article also falls into the hands of Jeffrey Harrison, living alone with four dogs and a pigeon in a broken-down RV in a Venice Beach car park. In the 1980s, Jeffrey supplemented his meagre income by becoming a sperm donor at California Cryobank. His number was Donor 150.
To read more go to http://bit.ly/gnuAGN
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