Ginger’s story | “My mother would carry on that my birth father never wanted me, he only wanted her.”
I was born to a teenage mother. According to her siblings, and even my grandmother, my birth father loved my mother very much. I heard stories over the years of how much he loved and wanted to marry her. My mother never lied in my younger years about who my birth...
Heather G.’s story | “Mom said to us, ‘Don’t come around too often, my boyfriend doesn’t like it.'”
I grew up with divorced grandparents. When my parents divorced I felt double the shame. I remember clearly the day my mum announced she was leaving us. It was the day before her birthday and my little sister's 6th birthday was two days later. Dad said "Your Mum has a...
Pamela’s story | “My mother told me she didn’t know who my father was…in the same sentence she told me she was gay.”
My situation was unique in that my alcoholic mother and I lived with her parents until I was 8. I don't have many memories of my mother even though I shared a bedroom with her. I believe God was protecting me. I don't believe there was any physical abuse. Only...
![Nicholas Isel’s story | “Maybe if the sperm bank had sent [my dad] a ‘good son,’ he would still be alive.”](https://thembeforeus.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/15036272_897102117089844_4230575259948217153_n-e1495825173694-400x250.jpg)
Nicholas Isel’s story | “Maybe if the sperm bank had sent [my dad] a ‘good son,’ he would still be alive.”
My “anti-social” father passed away last year. I only ever knew him as “Dad” throughout my childhood and wasn’t told by my mom that we weren’t biologically related until I reached the age of 15. The first emotion I remember experiencing was a deep sense of relief. ...
Stories of Donor-Conceived Kids with Gay Parents- Why “family break-up” doesn’t explain their struggles.
“Am I the only one who feels this way? Am I a bad daughter because I wish I had a Dad? Is there anyone else who has 2 Moms or 2 Dads who wonders what it would be like if they were born into a normal family? Is ther anyone else who wants to be able to use the word normal without gettin a lecture on what is normal??? I dont know my real father and never will. Its weird but I miss him. I miss this man I will never know. Is it wrong for me to long for a father like my friends have?”
Kathryn’s story | “My mother told my brother that he was now the ‘man of the house’…he became depressed in his 20’s and drowned.”
My brother & I grew up without the presence of our father for most of our childhood. There were brief times we spent as a family of four, but those moments were few & far between. My mother eventually packed our bags when my father was at work one day, and we...
Stephanie Blessing’s story | “I found out I was conceived through a sperm donor…I mourned the loss of a man I never knew existed.”
Just a couple of weeks after my 32nd birthday, I found out that my parents used a sperm donor to conceive me. That was 8 years ago. I fell headlong into a dark pit of depression, unlike anything I’d ever experienced before.
Maria’s story | “Divorce was a one-time event for my dad. But it was the beginning of countless losses for me.”
My parents divorced when I was eight. At the time I had no idea that their marriage was struggling, though looking back there were signs. In fact, the night they "told me" they took me out to eat and upon leaving the restaurant I put my arms around each of them and...
John King’s story | “I’ve been scorned for not adapting to and celebrating my parents’ new sexual identities.”
I was ten years old when my Mom told me she was a Lesbian. It’s amazing the things you take for granted, until one day, everything changes. Who knew, things like family dinners I thought were such a hassle would be so deeply missed. I suppose its human nature to take...
Kathleen LaBounty’s story | “At the age of 8, I learned about my conception history.”
As an adult offspring of an anonymous sperm donor, I am telling pieces of my life story to provide the perspective of an offspring, to advocate for the needs of future offspring, and to expose relatively ignored complexities resulting from donor conception. My journey...
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