Three Makes Baby Podcast

In this episode, Jana Rupnow, LPC speaks with Allie P, sperm-donor conceived and raised by lesbian moms. Allie always knew she was donor conceived and called the anonymous donor, “the dude”, before she knew who he was.
Allie saw a commercial on TV and discovered approx 80 half-siblings through the donor sibling registry (DSR).
She told me what it’s like to have 80 siblings and the differences and similarities of their experiences. She also spoke about how hard it is to manage a relationship with that many people. . .
Allie was also able to identify and meet her donor in person.
She found herself following in his footsteps in ways throughout her life but isn’t sure how conscious this was.
Allie believes that telling the child from the start about donor conception is best and didn’t feel that anything was missing in her life by knowing.
Don’t miss this final Episode of season 1.

Liz would like to know more about the women that helped her become pregnant with her children. After she lost her baby girl at 21 weeks gestation due to a heart defect, it was hard to move on to another donor. She was attached to the embryos, her baby’s biological potential siblings but the dream of them died. The clinic kept the information from the donor about the baby’s heart defect and has kept Liz from contacting the donor.

Her episode brought up some ethical questions:
Shouldn’t the baby’s heart defect be shared with the donor if it could prevent the donor from having a complication with pregnancy in the future?
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Should doctors and agencies keep donors and parents apart if they want contact?
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The solution to this is to work with a program that has a registry or use the DSR in the US.
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Leave your comments below. Let’s advocate for change together.

Colleen experienced infertility and her doctor recommended that she use an egg donor to conceive, but donor conception had turned her life upside down. Her own donor conception was concealed until she discovered the truth through a DNA test. Her biological dad was actually a medical student who donated his sperm anonymously.

Finding out she was donor-conceived later in life caused Colleen an existential crisis, but things also begin to make sense to her. She recalled a family gathering when her dad was looking at her hands and said, “You have a crooked pinky finger!” “I have a crooked pinky finger!” The man that raised her passed away before she discovered the truth and she felt like she lost him all over again. .

Experiencing infertility and being donor conceived, Colleen has a unique perspective, “I see a lot of hurt from people who are infertile and who are donor conceived and it’s not a tragedy competition.” Listen on your morning commute in iTunes.

Tiffany shares her story of paternal loss, how it has shaped her life and how it fuels her advocacy work for donor conceived people.