Pregnancy and fertility: Katherine knew she was donor conceived, but didn’t know she was one of many

Katherine Dawson always knew her biological father was a sperm donor. Her mother made sure to explain it to her daughter from a young age, using pancake batter as the perfect tool.

“I think she always wanted to be honest with me. I really respected my mum, because I felt like she really respected me,” Dawson, 34, tells 9honey.

Her mother used to explain her conception to her using pancake batter, explaining that they’d “mixed these ingredients together” and put them “in my tummy”.

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Following her mother Olga’s death in 2009, Dawson eventually decided to find out more about the donor sperm that led to her creation by tracking down her biological father, or “donor father” as she refers to him, and any possible siblings.

What she didn’t expect was to discover she was one of approximately 58 siblings, as her father had donated multiple times using several different names.

“I’ve had a mother pass away from cancer. If someone had information for my mum that could have meant, ‘Hey you should check this early,’ and she went in and could have just gotten a colonoscopy and then she was still alive…” she says, referencing the importance of family members having health information.

When she discovered she was one of many siblings, Dawson began her quest to share the health information she discovered about their father with them.

This proved to be difficult. First, she had to track them down. Second, she had to check they knew they were created using donor sperm.

Then, she had to ask if they wanted the health information.

Back when her donor father made his donation, there was no legal requirement for clinics to check their medical records, relying on “whatever the donor puts down on their form”.

Dawson drafted a letter explaining to a geneticist the possible health challenges they may face from their father’s side of the family, and began sending them out.

The letters mentioned a risk of bowel cancer and schizophrenia, as well as his “strong Polish nose”.

Not everyone has been happy to hear from her, but some are, and Dawson feels it is her responsibility to at least try to share the information with them.

“It’s just about informed consent and being fully informed, and then once any of the siblings have that medical information and see the recommendations of what a geneticist or surgeon recommends, they can go do whatever they want,” she says.

“And if they don’t want to connect with me, that’s totally their own choice as well. I’m fully supportive of whatever they want to do in their life, but just for them to have the awareness is important to me so they can make informed decisions about their life.”

Dawson goes into further detail about her incredible story on the podcast Secrets We Keep: By Any Means, out on all podcast platforms now.

The series, hosted by journalist Amelia Oberhardt, explores Australia’s history of fertility services and donor conception.

After the release of Oberhardt’s first series about forced adoption in Australia that she was contacted by Dr Caitlin McMillian, who was completing her PhD on the outcomes of donor-conceived adults.

“I was thinking there’s a striking similarity between those donor-conceived adults finding out, and later discovering adoption,” Oberhardt tells 9honey.

“What I think happened was IVF moved at an exponentially quick rate.

“Once they got the hang of what to do and how to do it, it’s like the horse jumped the gate and drew two laps of the Melbourne Cup before they had a chance to lock down the barrier, and the horse had bolted to such a point governance was never going to catch up to science.”

It has only been in recent years that legislation has started catching up. That leaves two decades of donor-conceived Australians searching for answers.

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She was shocked about what she discovered when it came to the use of anonymous sperm “which was never reported” or properly governed.

Nor were donor-conceived Australians typically told their origin stories back then.

“That went on for a long time before they lifted the anonymity and a long time before they saw DNA testing coming, and that’s where the whole thing’s come undone,” she says.

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With the popularity of DNA testing websites such as Ancestry.com, many quickly discovered their origin stories may be different from what they were told.

“Children that are struggling and have really long-term psychological issues that don’t come out later in life,” she says.

Not to mention not having a full picture of their health and potential issues that may arise.

Listen to Secrets We Keep: By Any Means, on your favourite podcast platform now.

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