By KRISTINE TAYLOR
It is the story of an improbable modern family – a back-to-front love affair where a woman seeks out and falls in love with an anonymous sperm donor who fathered her baby daughter.
Aminah Hart, Scott Andersen and daughter Leila. (Image from Australian Story)
In 2011, Aminah Hart was 42 and single and had lost two young sons to a rare genetic disorder that she eventually learned was passed on via a defective gene she carried.
Legislative changes passed in Victoria the previous year had opened up access to IVF for single women, giving Ms Hart one last chance of becoming a mother to a healthy baby.
“It takes the romance out of it a bit, doesn’t it, when you decide to take on donor sperm to try and have a baby,” Ms Hart said.
“It wasn’t going to be picture postcard, being single, but I was raised by an amazing single mother and she taught me that I could do it.”
Ms Hart was provided the details of three anonymous donors – just “three bits of paper” on each – detailing vital statistics, physical qualities, medical history and hobbies.
“And that’s kind of it,” Ms Hart said. “You’re making a choice on who the father might be.”
As she says in tonight’s episode of Australian Story, one of them stood out.
Top Comments
I liked this story and found it very heartwarming. From a purely scientific point of view, I have concerns. Aminah carries a gene mutation which does not express herself in women but has a 50% chance of being passed on to any male child. It is likely that she has passed this on to her daughter, who herself may one day face the tragedy of having sons who are very ill and only live for a short time. Surely the rational thing to do would have been to seek egg donation as well? I am actually surprised an IVF clinic would agree to treat someone with that genetic history, knowing it could well have resulted in the birth of another seriously disabled little boy with significantly reduced quality of life. It seems morally irresponsible. I am sure others would disagree, but I think science should be used to make life better when it can be. I hope there is some breakthrough by the time the little girl is having children of her own.
I cried buckets at her having to say goodbye to not one but two of her boys. I wish her all the happiness in the world.