| How it all started |
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The story of Donor Unknown has never been more relevant as reproductive and genetic technologies advance. The shape of the family is changing and Jeffrey and his children are pioneers.
We didn’t find Donor 150 - Jeffrey Harrison. He found us. In 2007, Producer Hilary Durman was woken very early one morning by a phone call. The caller was a man - Californian, middle-aged and a total stranger. Jeffrey had called because he’d heard that Redbird was producing a BBC drama about a teenage boy who had just learned his father was an anonymous sperm donor.
Some time before, in a cafe on Venice Beach, Jeffrey had read in a discarded copy of the New York Times about two teenage girls who had discovered they shared the same sperm donor – California Cryobank Donor number 150. Both girls were curious to know who Donor 150 might be. And Jeffrey had to decide whether to keep his anonymity - or step forward and identify himself. Jeffrey wanted to talk about his experience…….
We travelled to LA to meet Jeffrey, and gradually pieced together his story. At the same time, we started to make contact with the Donor 150 siblings and their families, the Donor Sibling Registry which brought them together, and the California Cryobank where the story of their connection began.
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