John's Story

I had thought about becoming a blood donor for many years and back in 1987, I finally justified my decision by thinking that it would be interesting to know my blood group. It was at that time I started working from home as a self-employed accountant, and was able to indulge myself by listening to the radio during the working day. Whilst listening to Steve Wright �In the afternoon�, he gave out an unusual request that he had received from King�s College.

King�s College Hospital�s fertility unit required sperm donations from ordinary males with partners and children. I replied to this and they asked me to attend with my partner and have a blood test ( . . the needle again, just like blood doning). An hour long interview took place it was obviously decided that I was not psychotic. On reflection, perhaps it was a trifle unusual that both my partner and my two children (then aged 8 and 5) were present during the entire interview, but I did not question this at the time. Following the interview and blood test, Sister Annie Harris told me I had been accepted, and that I would be a very special person helping a couple to fulfill their ambition to have a child. In passing, she also said that if I ever dropped into conversation at dinner parties that I was a sperm donor, it would be guaranteed to turn heads - but I�ve never put this to the test.

King�s College at this time (and hence the plug on Radio 1) said they were aiming to raise the profile of donors, in order to gather in other men, rather than the usual students, prisoners, and people wanting to earn extra money. King�s were looking for ordinary men who would donate for altruistic reasons. An accountant might think of this as �good value� charity with no middleman taking a share.

I was promised that my donation would always remain anonymous, and that only my non-identifying details would be given, but was asked to give a short profile of myself. I have always secretly hoped that my details could get released to anyone conceived by my donations.

Having made my 10 donations that was the end of the matter - no four monthly recalls like blood doning.

Over the time since I donated in 1987, the issue of sperm donors has regularly appeared on television or in the papers, and the donor always appears as someone who would greatly object to a child appearing on the doorstep saying �you are my dad�. I have written a few letters to counter this stance, and even thought of writing to Steve Wright now he has sensibly moved to Radio 2, but as if to answer my thoughts Melanie Johnson and the Department of Health have now set up the voluntary register �UK Donorlink� which After Adoption Yorkshire have been selected to promote.

At the time, I gave knowing it was totally anonymous, there was no comeback, and the outcome was nothing to do with me. But, as the years have passed I feel even more strongly that I don�t want to be anonymous. It is like giving a pair of shoes to a child but keeping the laces, or giving a picture without the name of the artist.

I myself would hate not to know my own parentage, and now welcome the opportunity to help someone discover their biological ancestry. To counter those of a pessimistic nature, I cannot think of anything more exciting than to meet a child conceived as a result of my donation and to share my background with them. In common with David Hinchcliffe, I love genealogy, and my own family history has become a little obsession, which I would love to share with anyone curious enough to have registered with UK Donorlink and found to match my DNA.