Responses From Our Community
Question 6
What is one thing you wish people understood about being donor conceived?
The reflections below were shared by members of our community in response to this question. Each represents one person's lived experience and should not be interpreted as speaking for everyone who shares that experience.
Responses are shared anonymously unless the contributor requested otherwise. Some may have been lightly edited for spelling, punctuation, grammar, or length without changing the meaning of the contributor's words.
Wanting to know where I come from doesn't mean I don't love the family who raised me. Those things aren't mutually exclusive. My biological connections are part of my identity, and wanting to understand them shouldn't be treated as a rejection of anyone.
Being donor conceived isn't just about how I was created. It can mean growing up without access to half of my medical history, not knowing how many genetic siblings I have, and having questions about my origins that other people take for granted.
I wish people understood that being told the truth about my conception should never have depended on whether the adults involved felt comfortable sharing it. This is my history, too. I deserved to know it from the beginning, not discover it by accident years later.
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