Four sperm donor siblings meet to solve family mystery and find biological dad

16 January 2024 , 08:30

865     0

Liam Renouf (right) meets his siblings (l-r) Charlie, Mae and Beth (and Liam) meeting for the first time

These four half-siblings share the same biological father, but may never know his name as they were conceived with sperm he donated.

Born From the Same Stranger is a TV show about people who were conceived using sperm or egg donors and are now searching for the donors. Charlie, 28, his sister Beth, 25, Mae, 27, and Liam, 28, met each other thanks to the programme.

But incredibly the series throws up much more than that with many of those searching discovering they have half brothers and sisters they never knew existed, as many donors had their sperm used for multiple babies to be conceived.

The four-part ITV series, from the makers of Long Lost Family, is narrated by Davina McCall. Davina said: "The biggest experiment in the history of fertility treatment led to thousands of families created from total strangers. Generations of adults want to know who they are. All over the country, donor conceived adults are sharing their experiences on social media."

Liam Renouf is searching for his sperm donor

In next week's opening episode viewers follow the story of Liam Renouf, who was born to a single mum on the island of Jersey in 1995. He grew up wondering about his "dad" and saving up Father’s Day cards to give to him one day, but Liam’s mum Julie had to remind him that the donor is not his dad, but his biological father and, as she says, “there’s a big difference”.

Married couple with 61-year age gap vow to start family despite husband being 85

Liam was conceived in the 1990s, when sperm donation was in its heyday. Often paid around £15 a go, nearly 500 men were regularly dropping off samples at clinics across the country. But the one thing they all had in common was that they were promised complete anonymity.

Liam was conceived in the 1990s

Though the law change in 2005 means that children conceived since then can now have their donor’s details when they turn 18, for Liam only non-identifying information is available. Liam, 28, said of his donor: "When I was younger I did imagine meeting him quite a lot. I was hoping to find a little bit more about my donor, any information that I can get would be fantastic. It's massive that this is a real person that really exists and that's quite a hard thing to wrap your head around."

Liam does get some more positive news when he puts his DNA on commercial websites in the hope of finding out more and within days finds himself meeting up with four half-siblings.

Viewers will also meet Sarah Smith, who only discovered she was donor conceived four years ago

Viewers will also meet Sarah Smith, who only discovered she was donor conceived four years ago. Brought up in Singapore with a Singaporean mother and white British father, Sarah had no idea that her dad was not her biological father until he passed away.

For the first time, she talks to her mum about why her parents went down the route of sperm donation and why they kept it a secret from her. When Sarah starts her search looking for answers about her identity she matches with her donor directly on a commercial database.

But he was a young man when he donated and like all sperm donors at the time, promised anonymity, so the next steps of making contact with him prove complicated. The series promises a number of emotional meetings throughout, with new siblings discovered and families created.

• Born from the Same Stranger starts on Monday January 22 at 9pm on ITV and ITVX.

Mark Jefferies