Searching for donor and any half siblings - Perth WA

[kdekker]

Hi

I am a 35 year old donor offspring.  I only found out 10 years ago that I was conceived through a donor so the information I have is very limited.  The only information I do have is - My parents went through a centre (close proximity to King's Park?) in Perth Western Australia and they were under the care of Dr Colin Douglas-Smith.  They went there in early March of 1977.  The only other information I have is that they were told that the donor had blonde hair and blue eyes. 

I have registered on the voluntary donor register in WA 10 years ago but have had no success and am hoping I may have some luck through this website.

Thankyou.   

[dadams]

Hi kdekker
welcome to the forum.
Adam is also from WA so he should be able to help you out there.
There are a few other online resources out there. Please see below.
Good luck with your search.
Australian Donor Conception Registry (http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/AustralianDonorConceptionRegistry/)
this one also has a database for people to enter their donor codes if they have them.

AmFOR Donor Offspring Registry (http://www.amfor.net/DonorOffspring/)

Searching for my sperm donor father (http://www.searchingformyspermdonorfather.org/)

The Donor Sibling Registry (but they charge a fee) (https://www.donorsiblingregistry.com/)

[Quinny]

Hi kdekker!

Your situation sounds very similar to mine. I also found out 10 years ago! The centre that got Dr Colin Douglas-Smith's records (I think he may have been independent back then) is called Pivet and it is still around.

I am surprised that we have not been matched up on the voluntary register. With only a year or less age difference and using the same doctor I thought that would have been enough.

Do you know what your blood type is? Mine is A+ which means my donor is A or AB.
I don't have blonde hair or blue eyes. My hair is dark brown (was blonde when I was little) and grey/hazel eyes.

[kdekker]

Thankyou dadams for those links I will check them out.

Thankyou Quinny also for your response. 

It is surprising that we haven't been matched on the donor registery but then I am not really sure how they determine what is a match or not? 

My blood type is also A+ (my biological mother's blood type is A+). ironically it was my questioning of blood groups of my "parents" that lead to fianlly being told.  I had very blonde hair as a child and now have dark blonde.  Everyone says I look exactly like my mother so I am not sure how much of the donor I actually look like!

 

[Quinny]

I definitely have some of my mum's looks but the main differences are the hair and eyes (hers are black and brown respectively). My mum's blood type is O which is why I know my donor's has to be A or AB.

I noticed in your profile that you live in Queensland. Would you be willing to do a half-sibling DNA test?

Damien, are these sorts of tests worth doing or are they too inconclusive? I would expect my Mum to include her DNA as well (for exlusion).

[dadams]

G'Day Adam
the half sibship test or avuncular test as it is also called can be very hit and miss.
Ideally you would want both biological mothers tested as well to increase your chances.
One problem for people doing this test in the general community is that you do the test and you get a result which is either more likely than not or more likely not to be related. And depending on whether your alleles or common ones in the general population it might mean that the percentage likelihood is less than those people with rare alleles. So you get your result, you try and interpret the result and then if negative that is it.
But if she was to take something like the FamilyTree DNA Family Finder test then not only will she see if you are likely half sibs, but if the result is negative then she still has an iron in the stove because she will be able to see what matches she might have with other people etc.
So rather than one test one result, it is the test that can potentially keep on producing.
From memory you have already done this test, so if you were half sibs and she took the test then it will show up.

[Quinny]

Excellent! Thanks Damien. It's great that something like Family Finder is out there and we only have to do it once to get matches. I haven't checked mine for a while so I don't know if anyone new has matched on it.

[dadams]

It's just a pity that the data from say 23andMe is not completely compatible with FamilyTreeDNA (and they don't share databases), so some of us have opted to get tested by both.

[Quinny]

Wow! Kay is now my closest relative on Family Finder with the possible relationships being:
Half Siblings,
Grandparent/ Grandchild,
Aunt/ Uncle,
Niece/ Nephew

Suggested relationship:
Grandparent/ Grandchild,
Half Siblings

So looks like Kay you might be my first found half sibling!

Damian, any suggestions on how can we test this further?

[dadams]

Update: now you can bring across your 23andMe data into FamilyTreeDNA databases.

[dadams]

You're right Adam - wow. That is an amazing result.
You obviously know that she is not your grandparent or even aunt on the donors side as she simply is not old enough. Niece would only work if she was born from a full sibling of yours which we also know is not the case, which only really leaves the half sibling scenario.

You could also use the avuncular test (half sibs) if you wish to try and get another test done although as mentioned previously it is not always conclusive and is a little more difficult to interpret. I personally think that this test is flawed for half-sibship as it can flasely exclude 10% of real half sibs and falsely include 10% of people who are not sibs.

Do either of you have donor codes, and if not can you get them?
You probably wouldn't be able to access those records but your mother should be able to as they are her medical records, she might need to do a freedom of information request.

So here is what we know, you were both conceived at the same clinic, within a similar time frame. The blood groups do not exclude you either which is great. Your DNA results also suggest that you are half-siblings. So even if the donor codes come back differently, there are instances of records being incorrect, altered or even that samples were mixed which I think would not necessarily exclude you either.

My opinion is that unless it can be shown otherwise, that you two are half-siblings.
Congratulations, I'm really happy for both of you.
That is what this forum is all about. Yeah!

[Quinny]

Thanks Damian!

I have tried in the past to get any medical records and I believe my mum has as well and we are told they do not exist.

Where did you find the info about the 10% falsely included?

[Quinny]

I rang the Voluntary Register to find out why we weren't matched on there.

Frances was helpful to describe the process (which uses donor codes mostly by the sound of it - so no hope for us) and said they are in the process of doing a review because they think some records have not been matched.

I am going to write to them so that an investigation can be done. I'd like to know that my application should at least be approximately matched with Kay's. Once that is established then to find out if any one else matches that same or similar data.

[kdekker]

Would it be worth while for me to also write a letter to them? 

[dadams]

Hi Adam it was in some scientific journal articles.
I'll send you a copy of one I wrote recently which has some info on DNA testing in it.