Hayley – Born

Name: Hayley

Born: 

Where Conceived: 

I was conceived back in the early 80’s thanks to pioneering IVF treatment. Being a ‘test tube baby’ was a celebrated story for me growing up, however in 2015 I discovered that as part of that treatment an anonymous sperm donor was used – so my lovely dad who raised me wasn’t in fact my genetic father.

Finding this information out so late in life shook me to the core, and it took many years of processing for me to come to terms with my new reality. As I was also the mum to (sperm) donor conceived twins, I found myself questioning a lot of things including how best to handle talking to them (about their journey) and also managing questions and curiosity around their conception.

Fast forward several years, I now work directly within the donor conception community, sharing my personal story but also helping to support parents who are looking to build their families via donor conception. Thankfully we have come along way since the 80s when I was conceived, however there is still much work to be done regarding advocacy, education and support for all of those involved directly and indirectly with donor conception.