My name is Adam Quinlivan.
I didn't find out that I was a donor offspring until I was 25 years old. This happened as a result of me seeing some medical documents at my Mum's house and noticing that my Mum, sister and I all had a different blood type. I mentioned this and before I could guess at what Dad's blood type was, my Mum told me that I was donor conceived.
I do remember while growing up that I wondered if I was adopted. There was always something at the back of my mind about this.
My Mum told me as much as she could about it. She mentioned the Voluntary Register, which is set up in Western Australia for donors and donor offspring to get in contact with each other. I am registered with this organisation though unfortunately they have had no luck.
I have written a letter to the doctor, Dr. Colin Douglas-Smith, who was the consultant for my parents. The doctor, who is now very elderly, called me on the phone and told me a bit about what it was like back in the 70's and about how there were no records kept. He told me that the donors he used were "local boys" who were medical students at the time.
At the time of my conception the doctor had his own practice, but later he worked for an organisation. They now have all his records. I also wrote to this organisation and they also rang me and said they had none of his records from that far back.
I, along with another donor offspring, created a website called the Australian Donor Conception Forum. We thought it would be a good to have something available on the internet like an online forum, as this would allow people the chance to chat to others and learn a bit more about how others have felt and what they have gone through about donor issues. It is also an easy way to view someone's picture if they so desire.
