Page 10 - ARUBA TODAY

A10 WORLD NEWS
Friday 3 august 2018

Who's my father? Australia law ID's once-secret sperm donors

By KRISTEN GELINEAU have the child they'd al-
Associated Press ways wanted. He donated
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) around eight times, re-
— For Peter Peacock, fate ceived $10 a sample, and
arrived in the form of a reg- used the money to buy a
istered letter. new set of power tools.
The letter looked to be a "I gave because I thought
bit of a letdown. Peacock I was going to do some
had gone to the post of- good somewhere," Pea-
fice expecting an aviator cock says. "The drill was a
jacket he'd ordered online. bonus."
The Australian grandfather He was curious, so he
tore the envelope open as agreed to an e-mail corre-
he walked to his car — at spondence with Diamond.
which point he stopped Bourne called Diamond to
dead in his tracks. deliver the news. Diamond
"Dear Mr Peacock," the quickly found Peacock's
letter began. "The Victo- Facebook profile. Her heart
rian Assisted Reproductive raced. She had never seen
Treatment Authority (VAR- anyone who looked so
TA) has received an enquiry much like her. She sent an
of a personal nature which email and two photos of
may or may not relate to herself.
you. The matter concerns In this Tuesday, May 15, 2018, photo, a sperm sample is seen through a microscope in a Peacock, too, was stunned
a record held in relation to laboratory at Melbourne IVF in Melbourne, Australia. Associated Press by their similarities. Both
a project you may have as- love Shiraz and antipasto,
sisted with at Prince Henry's woman named Gypsy Dia- But Victoria is only the sec- that ain't going to happen," cheer for the same football
Institute." mond, whose face looked ond jurisdiction in the world he says. team, and share a cheeky
Prince Henry's? The Mel- so much like his own that to impose a law retroac- Gypsy Diamond's quest to sense of humor.
bourne clinic where he'd he felt an instant and over- tively stripping away ano- find her donor began when "I can see so much of your-
donated sperm nearly 40 whelming connection. nymity without the donor's she was 21, after her moth- self in me... especially the
years ago? "God almighty, I looked at consent. Switzerland was er abruptly told her that her eyes," Diamond wrote. "I've
There could be only one it and I thought — 'Bloody the first to do so in 2001, but dad was not her biological never felt anything like it."
reason for such a letter, hell. I can't deny that girl,'" many donor records were father. He asked her if Gypsy Dia-
he thought. Someone out he says. "She was my child destroyed. For years, the curios- mond was her real name.
there had come to life from the start." Under the law, donors do ity about her heritage She assured him it was.
through his donation. Behind Victoria state's do- have the right to demand gnawed at her, but little in- "If I was going to make
His mind raced. How could nor identity law, which took that their offspring not con- formation was available. one up to contact my do-
this person even know who effect in 2017, was a quest tact them. Anyone who vi- One day in April 2017, her nor," she wrote, "I probably
he was? He had been for the truth by people olates a contact veto can phone rang. It was Kate wouldn't choose one that
promised his donation whose lives began in a lab. be fined 7,900 Australian Bourne, a counselor at sounded like a porn star."
would be anonymous. In its early days, the sperm dollars ($6,000). VARTA. Both worried about how
And for decades it was, un- and egg donation industry Ian Morrison, one of Vic- "Are you sitting down?" the news would affect their
til a new law in one Austra- was swathed in secrecy, toria's 2,000-or-so donors Bourne asked. "I've just got families. Peacock's older
lian state gave the offspring leaving some children des- who were assured ano- off the phone to your do- daughter eventually struck
of sperm and egg donors perate to complete the nymity, is angered by the nor." up a friendly correspon-
the legal right to know who puzzle of their identity. They law, and worries that the Peacock, a long-divorced dence with Diamond, but
they are, despite promises also wanted to know their people seeking their do- 68-year-old, had no idea the younger one was un-
of anonymity. family medical histories. nors haven't considered whether contact with settled by the emergence
Which is why a week after Some countries, includ- the feelings of those who Diamond would alter his of Diamond, 36. "I'm not the
receiving that letter, Pea- ing Australia, have now raised them. peaceful life. youngest anymore," she
cock found himself star- banned anonymous dona- "If they're expecting to get He had become a do- told Peacock.q
ing at a photograph of a tion. two big happy families, nor in a bid to help others