Media alert: Seeking DONOR OFFSPRING for new documentary

[Note from Lindsay: This is open to any adult donor offspring, regardless of where you live!]

WHO AM I?

WHO AM I? 

How do you define identity?  What role, if any, has genetics played in shaping the person you are today?

We’re SEEKING DONOR OFFSPRING to participate in an international high end documentary series on Assisted Reproductive Technology and the link between biological and genetic history and identity.  What makes this documentary series unique is that it is told through the eyes of the offspring conceived through ART; your EYES.

We want to hear your stories; your perspectives; your insights into the impact of the technology that helped bring you into this world and your vision for the future.

WHO ARE WE?

Please allow us to introduce ourselves:

 

Tammi Michelle Faraday is a Television, Feature Film & Documentary Producer, Investigative journalist, Human Rights Lobbyist, Television Presenter, Broadcaster, and one time Senior Associate of an international law firm. 

 

Tammi recently returned to Australia after being based in London for two years working as a producer on critically acclaimed and award winning feature films and feature length documentaries for the BBC (UK), WGBH (United States), SBS (Australia) and Channel 2 (Israel). These include: "The Insurgency” (a BBC/WGBH feature length documentary about the Iraqi insurgency); “The Nuclear Wal-Mart" (a BBC Panorama investigation about the private international nuclear network); “Yitzchak Rabin - Case Unclosed" (a groundbreaking documentary on the late Prime Minister of Israel); “Rape on Trial" (a BBC Panorama investigation about rape and the criminal justice system in the UK) and the multi award winning feature film in Australia, “Wil".

In 2008 Tammi launched her international film production, media and communications company - Juggernaut Media Management.

Ros Tatarka is an established producer with an extensive track record primarily in television production.   In her early career Ros worked on some of Australia’s most iconic television dramas including Prisoner, Neighbours and A Country Practice.  She later went on to Associate Produce the mini-series Snowy and the first nine telemovies of the successful Halifaxfpfranchise.  As Producer her credits include the first series of Something In the Air, and the telemovie and first series of Good Guys Bad Guys, for which she won an AFI Award.

 

Ros was most recently engaged as the General Manager, Industry Development and Investment at the State Government Agency, Film Victoria.  In this role, Ros headed up the business unit responsible for stimulating and supporting growth and excellence in the Victorian screen industry. 

 

In 2008 Ros returned to the independent sector and through her production company, CreatEve Pty Ltd, is developing a slate of projects including feature film, television drama, documentary and new media.

For further information please contact Tammi Faraday on + 61 (0)401 952 962 orboss@juggernautmedia.com.au

or Ros Tatarka on either +61 (0)411 567 556 or rtatarka@optusnet.com.au.

Genetic genealogy and a glimmer of hope for offspring

In my genealogy class, one of our assignments is to create two brochures on genealogy topics of our choice to teach the class about these resources.  The two topics I chose were Ellis Island (because my great-grandparents arrived there in 1909 and 1912) and Genetic Genealogy (because of course I'm a genetics nerd, so I had to throw a plug to my favorite subject!).  

So anyways, this afternoon I've been working on the Genetic Genealogy brochure and I thought that in the past there's been a bit of discussion about the pros and cons of genealogical DNA tests for donor conceived adults, but I have not discussed the topic in-depth, until now!

Genealogical DNA tests provide unique insight into an individual's recent ancestors as well as historical origins.  These tests do not give medical information.  They are meant to find ancestral links to living relatives.  There are two main types of genealogical DNA tests: Y-STR tests and mtDNA tests.  Y-STR tests trace the paternal lineage, while mtDNA tests trace maternal line

age.  

Therefore, Y-STR tests are ideal for MALE donor offspring to gain information about their biological father's heritage, and even find possible surnames.  If anything, a male offspring may be able to connect with genetic cousins, even if he is unable to trace his father.

Females, however, are up a creek without a paddle in terms of tracing their paternal side without a male paternal relative - if you have a brother who's from the same donor that's the only way.  Sorry gals........

So back to Y-STR tests...

Most testing companies offer several different levels of tests, based on how many STR markers they look at: 12, 25, 37, and 67.  The 12-marker test will not offer much information at all, other than possibly what ethnicity you might be.  The 25 and/or 37-marker test (depending on the company) is the best bet, because it gives enough information to find a potential surname and match to other relatives in the database, but it leaves room for a larger array of potential.  Since we are starting with a blank slate in terms of knowledge of paternity, the 67-marker test may be too confined to actually make a match.  

For more information about what STRs are, and how they trace your ancestry, please refer to my post "Whatcha gonna do with all that junk, all that junk in you...DNA?" for a more in-depth explanation.

There are some problems with using this type of test to determine paternity, or even surnames.  Because of secret adoptions (or even donor conception!), infidelity, and random mutations in the past, it's possible that the surname that the test tells you is your ancestral surname, may not be the surname of your biological father.  

So, genetic genealogy tests are a fantastic resource for male offspring, but must be used with caution.  Take the results with a grain of salt.  If anything, think of it as a way to learn about your biological father's ancestors and his history - even if it turns out to not direct you towards him.  

In conclusion, I will leave you with some of the benefits of genetic genealogy.  The decision is yours whether or not you wish to enter into this area in your search.

Some cool things that can be discovered in these tests are:

• Discovering living relatives
• Surname/clan reconstruction
• Identifying ethnic group memberships
• Determining ancestral homelands
• Identifying Cohanim ancestry (Y-chromosomal Aaron) - Jewish priests and ancestors of Biblical Aaron (brother of Moses) [Cohen Modal Haplotype]
• Identifying Native American ancestry
• Identifying tribal groups 

Caucasian -

European:

Eastern European (Slavic speaking of E. Europe)

Finno-Ugrian (Uralic speaking of NE Europe)

Mediterranean (Romance speaking of SW Europe)

Northwest European (Celtic and Germanic speaking of NW Europe)

Near Eastern:

Arabian

North African (Sahara Dessert and Atlas Mts)

Mesopotamian (Iran, Iraq)

Aegean (Anatolia: Sicily, Greece, Turkey, Armenia)

Levantine (Semitic: Israel)

Asian - 

Central and South Asian (Indian)

East Asian (Chinese, Japanese)

Sub-Saharan Africa - 

South, East, and West Africa

American Indian - 

Native North American:

Arctic, Mexican, Great Plains, Northeastern, Pacific Northwest

Native Central and South American:

Amazonian, Andean, Central, Mayan, Patagonian

Pacific Islanders - 

Polynesian, Aboriginal

*********************************

Genetic Genealogy Testing Companies:

Family Tree DNA (http://www.familytreedna.com)

23andMe (http://www.23andme.com) - also does medical testing, in case you're worried!

DNA Heritage (http://www.dnaheritage.com)

DNA Tribes (http://www.dnatribes.com) - does not do Y-STR tests but autosomal tribal tests

GTL DNA (http://www.gtldna.com/ystr.html)

Results from any of these companies can be uploaded onto the Y-Search public database, which allows individuals who got their Y-DNA test done at any company to compare their results and find relatives! 

Any test that is AUTOSOMAL both males AND females can do, and can give some insight into heritage for the paternal side.

I'm BACK!!!! And with some news.....

Wow, so I know I've been gone for quite a while, and I just want you all to know I'm still here!!  I had midterms the past two weeks, so I practically haven't seen the light of day (except for the past 3 GORGEOUS days here in Cleveland - gotta love that sunshine until it snows again!!!  And Opening Day for the Tribe is only a few weeks away, so y'all know we have to have our Opening Day blizzard........)

I've also been getting slightly obsessed with doing my family's genealogy - thanks to my genealogy course I'm taking this semester.  I've even found TONS (and I'm talking 50-100) cousins on my Armenian side of the family that live in Worcester, thanks to my 3rd cousin who quizzed her father for us, and have possibly found two long-lost uncles (siblings of my g-grandfather, whom everyone assumed was an only child) whose children all live in California!!  Also have been in contact with some cousins who we will hopefully be going and meeting this summer in Boston/Worcester/Providence.  And that's just on my grandfather's side!

In other news, I GOT A JOB!!!!!  WOOHOO!!!!!  I will be starting my new job as a Reference Assistant on April 8th.  

I'm also excited to announce that I had my 10,000th visitor hit this past week....so YAY!!!!

Not much else to report on here.  

In the DC world - I hate to say it but I've been somewhat MIA, but I am going to try to play catch-up over Spring Break and get back into the game.  I have a couple of things on my docket that I want to talk about, so I will get to writing and posting those in the near future.  

Until then, I bid you adieu!!

Barry Stevens' BIO-DAD

[From Diane Allen of the Infertility Network]

A man born of artificial insemination searches for his biological father - and takes a look at the brave new world to come. 

E1 ENTERTAINMENT’S BIO-DAD IS SET FOR CBC PREMIERE

February 26, 2009 at 8 p.m. (8:30 p.m. NT) on CBC TV, 

http://www.cbc.ca/television

CBC is proud to present BIO-DAD, an E1 TELEVISION documentary that follows the quest of Barry Stevens, one of the first people produced by artificial insemination, as he sets out to identify the anonymous sperm donor 

who produced him and hundreds of Stevens’ unknown half-siblings a half century ago.  
 The film, which is set to premiere Thursday, February 26th, 2009 on CBC at 8:00 p.m. (8:30 p.m. NT)  is a DNA detective story, full of twists, turns, and big surprises. Along the way, Stevens (who previously made the award-winning “Offspring”) discovers a brother, who joins him in his search – and before long, more family than he knows what to do with.
 
Stevens also takes us into the controversial world of making babies through science instead of sex in Bio-Dad. “As we’ve just seen in the news, quite elderly women can have babies and a young woman can have octuplets,” says Stevens. “Thousands regularly choose their baby’s sex, and some children now have five parents. Our culture is having trouble dealing with this -- but what’s coming up is even more challenging: a near-future where two men could have a biological baby (or two women), where working artificial wombs can be developed and where already we have the technology to modify humans, even adding non-human genes. It may be just a matter of time before people do it, take control of our evolution and enter a post-human world.”
 
Often forgotten in the rush to the future are the rights or needs of the children. And many of the first wave of donor offspring are furious.  Stevens documents the emerging political battle for the rights of those offspring to know their genetic origins – which has resulted in a ban on anonymity of donors in several countries, including the UK where he was conceived. And an angry backlash elsewhere.  
 
Bio-Dad, which was written and directed by Barry Stevens, always makes this important public story personal. Stevens, with his sister and new brother David, uncovers the origin of sperm donation in their search for their own donor. He is obsessed by the man who selected the donors, an eccentric and pioneering scientist and Jewish refugee who worked in a time when eugenics was widely accepted. He begins to find new evidence that this man himself was his biological father, driving his search into new adventures.
 
All along his journey, Stevens introduces us to extraordinary characters. There’s the ‘exhumation consultant’ who plans to help him dig up a suspect, the DNA detective who has pioneered a way to read his father’s name from the DNA itself, the 94-year-old inventor of earwax remover who may be Stevens’ father, the California doctor who hopes to be able to sell genes for height, longevity and math ability for his patients’ kids. And we meet a growing clan of people, all related through a mystery masturbator, who discover a new kind of family.  
 
After many disappointments and surprises – Stevens himself discovers he is also a bio-dad and his newly discovered daughter joins him in the search! – Stevens closes in on the mystery and finds the identity of the man they never knew, the man from whose loins they all sprang. And both he and his brother David have to come to terms with having twin fathers, both social and biological.  
 
Bio-Dad is a roller-coaster detective story about the meaning of family and the genetic tie, told with humour and compassion. It is the first film to take a look at the brave new world to come from the point of view of one of its first children.
 

For further information:
Lisa Wookey  
E1 Television, Head of Marketing
Tel: (416) 646-2400 EXT 326
lwookey@e1ent.com

C'est la vie...

Well, results are in.

The DNA test that I was so damn sure was going to be a match - came back negative..........

It's strange, you know, every other DNA test with possible fathers and siblings I found myself grieving almost immediately upon receiving the results, even though the similarities were just not there.  It was as if I knew I needed such a miracle that I spent so much time ruminating on all the possibilities that my heart got completely and utterly broken by the end.  

One DNA test in particular while I was waiting for the results I started getting cold feet and almost was wishing for it to be negative because I had had negative results before, I knew the drill.  I knew what to expect and how I would feel and that I would eventually get over it and get on with my life.  But if it had been positive, oh god...the reprecussions I cannot even imagine.  I had no set routine for a positive result.  It was seriously outside my comfort zone, as much as I want to find him, maybe I was not ready.  My family already disagreed with my searching, so how would they have taken me finding my biological father?!  But also, how would I feel?  I mean, in a way it's scary - so many things could happen to ruin the fantasy in your head about your father, and the truth can sometimes hurt.  

However, once the negative result came back and he called me to tell me, I heard him crying...yes, a grown man of 45 years old was crying because he so desperately wanted to find his offspring and so desperately wanted me to be his daughter, and it did not happen.  I then realized just how much I had lost and I broke down.  I cried because I felt that it was my wishing for a negative test that karma somehow kicked me in the ass.  I cried because once again that dream was ripped out of my hands at the last second.  I cried because I realized that I may never find him, and I cried because if I ever do he may never care for me and want me in his life as much as this man obviously did.  

So after the supposed fanfare of this past test, I feel strangely okay.  It feels surreal, like I had in my head that she was my sister and this test was only going to confirm what we already knew, and that the news is a faraway fleeting thought that is not reality.  I don't even think I've truly grieved, other than getting slightly choked up when I called her to tell her the results.

Strangely enough, my hurt is not that it came back negative but rather than she is no farther along in her search than she was before (still no donor number and no other resources left) and I had to put her through yet another emotional roller coaster ride.  

It was not OUR decision, as you might assume, but rather MY selfish decision.  After being contacted by Identigene about writing for their new blog, I told them about her and I and all the struggles we've been through and that we couldn't afford the test, and I asked them if there was any way that they would be able to do a DNA test for us pro-bono.  I never in a million years expected anything, but it turned out that they were thrilled to try and help us out!  I was elated, but the problem was, I did all of this without contacting her because I wanted it.  I never took into account all that she had already been through with her search this past year, and if she even wanted to do a DNA test!  So when I told her she was excited, but now I wonder how much of it was fear, fear for her own emotions.

So I feel guilty for dragging her into this without her complete consent, so if you're reading this, I'm sooo sorry.  

I'm also guilty that I even went to Identigene asking for such a lofty gift.  I NEVER would have asked for it if I hadn't been 99.9% positive that we were sisters!!  My gut instinct told me that she was, and call me impulsive, call me delusional, call me whatever you want, but I never expected a negative result.  So I'm sorry to Identigene, and especially to LJ and Kate because they were so supportive and were so hopeful for a match, and I feel like I let them all down.

So have I grieved or not?  To me, at least from my experience, I need to let it go by crying, spilling tears helps me wash away the experience and help me get on with it.  I haven't done that.  I've sat in this emotional purgatory for the past week with the knowledge in front of me but no emotional attachments behind it.  

Is it my guilt that is denying me the ability to grieve the results?  Is it because I/we were not fully prepared for the test, is that why I can't accept the consequences?  Whatever the case, I feel like a ghost of my self, going through my days but not really living.