蜜芽传媒

In 2005, the law in the UK changed to allow children who are donor-conceived to apply to find out the identity of their donor when they turn 18. Twins Matthew and Phoebe Betts are among the first young people to be able to apply to the Human Fertility and Embryology Authority to discover who their donor parent is.

The twins have always known they are donor-conceived. Their parents, Sarah and Shaun, told them early on that they have a daddy (Shaun) and a 鈥渢ummy daddy鈥� who helped them come into the world. The twins have also known from the word go that, when they turn 18, they can apply to find out the identity of their donor.

As Phoebe pursues her dream of working in musical theatre, and Matt works towards his Maths and Science A Levels and university and indulges his love of football, Blanche Girouard, who has two donor-conceived children herself, joins the twins in their journey to find out more about who they are.

Just before their 18th birthday, Blanche joins the twins and their parents as they take a DNA test using a genealogy website. Many donor-conceived people now do manage to find out more about their genetic backgrounds via these sites, which were not available when the new law came into force in 2005. The twins hope they might even discover the identity of their donor before they turn 18.

Their search takes them to South America, but no closer to finding the man who donated to the clinic back in the 2000s. On their 18th birthday, Matt and Phoebe send off their request to the Human Fertility and Embryology Authority, who promise to take 6 to 8 weeks to send them all the information they hold about the Columbian man who is their donor.

Yet it turns out that the process is taking much longer. Phoebe is disappointed about the long wait, while Matthew has dug around in the DNA results and found some distant cousins in Columbia. But he doesn鈥檛 want to message them out of the blue. Meanwhile, the question of what family ultimately is continues to preoccupy them as they lose their grandmother, Shaun鈥檚 mother, over Christmas.

So what will they end up finding out? And what will they do with the information?

The twins鈥� story is one of family, the realisation that their identity is more complex than they thought, and the question of what ultimately makes a parent.

Presenter: Blanche Girouard
Producer: Alex Strangwayes-Booth
Sound design: Nigel Appleton
Editor: Kristine Pommert
A CTVC production for 蜜芽传媒 Radio 4

Show less