August 2001

My name is M------ K------- W-----.
I thought I was of English/Irish descent.
I believed I had my dad's strong legs,
his nose and his youthful looks.
My seventeen year old brother
thought he had dad's skinniness
to blame for his lanky frame.
We both thought we knew who we were.

On the third of March this year
my mother told me
I was conceived using DI.
My brother was told in June.
He is not interested in the issue.
But he does have the same donor as me.

My parents were divorced this year
and had been separated for three.
I have little or no contact with my father.
We do not speak.

In this letter I would like to state my wish
of continuing the search for my donor.
I would like to emphasise the fact
that I am not looking for another father.
My dad is who I see as my father.
Even if my relationship with him is not the best,
he is all I have known for twenty years.

So far the telephone book,
Victorian electoral rolls
and the Registry of Births,
Deaths, and Marriages
have been searched.

Would it be possible to search
the Australian electoral rolls?
Other states' Registries?

Is it possible to advertise
at the universities?
(My donor was a student)
Could the services of an adoption
search agency be involved?
Are there staff that would
have been working in the clinic
at the time my donor was there?

Could the hospital advertise
for previous donors in print media,
on the internet or on TV?
Is it possible that my donor
could have donated at other clinics?
Is there additional information
about my donor on my half-siblings' files?

These are just a few of my suggestions.
I think about this every day and it frustrates me
that I can't know my donor's name
and that I will probably never meet
my half brothers and sisters.

I would like to see an informative
public awareness campaign
and support network put in place.
DI is the oldest form of assisted
reproductive technology
but it is a poor cousin to IVF.

Who knows about it?
Who talks about it?
Perhaps if the public knew
about this complex issue
families would be able to discuss it
openly with their children and avoid
the confusion, anger, and loss
that I and many others have felt
when told in difficult circumstances.

I am hoping that you will
do everything you can
to help me.


M------