Donor Conception Network - Stories
Just open your mouth wide please..
DNA Testing & Registration
Just open your mouth wide please……
No this was not a visit to the dentist with the twice yearly anxiety of
further holes having appeared on the already pitted landscape of my
ageing teeth, but the practice nurse at our local GP surgery encouraging
me to keep said teeth away from her hand whilst she scraped some mucus
from the inside of my cheek onto a long-handled cotton bud. Such was the
experience of having a DNA sample taken.
In August this year our daughter Susannah became 18. Amongst the
possibilities now legally open to her was registration with UK Donor
Link. As she had been eagerly anticipating this time, when sample
registration forms arrived for me to look at (I am on the Advisory Group)
she pounced on them and filled them in. Counselling is offered to anyone
registering with UKDL and initial registrants do not have to provide a
DNA sample but as the chances of making a match are pretty limited
without, Susannah was clear that she was happy to provide a sample. She
decided she didn't need counselling for the time being (bad enough living
with a mother who is a counsellor!) but thinks that she might want to
take this up if the laboratory comes up with a match.
I wasn't sure if our local surgery would be happy to do the test for us but my completely un-fazed GP said we should just make an appointment with the practice nurse. I gather from UKDL that some GPs are not so accommodating and indeed some donors or donor offspring do not want the testing to be known about publicly, so UKDL's team of counsellors are available to help with the testing process if required.
Our kits arrived at home in very important looking sealed bags and with yards of detailed instructions. The practice nurse was very nervous. She has to sign a form saying that she has followed the directions and as this was her first test she didn't want to get it wrong. It wasn't a problem. After checking that we had had nothing to eat or drink for the previous twenty minutes, the nurse used the extended cotton bud supplied to scrape cells from inside Susannah's cheek and then it was my turn. The implements were then popped (don't nurses just love this word) into their little plastic bags and it was all over.
You might ask why I was having a test as well when it is Susannah who wants to find people genetically connected to her. Well the answer is that if a birth mother (or father in the case of egg donation) gives DNA too this can be excluded during the process of matching with other registrants. It apparently makes the chances of coming up with a good match much better.
Anyway, it was all over very quickly and painlessly bar the filling in of numerous official forms. Susannah and I were not allowed to take charge of the tamper-proof package, leaving that in the safe keeping of the nurse who was quite overawed by the occasion and promised faithfully to post it that evening. We had confirmation several days later that it had indeed arrived in Leeds where UKDL is based.
Now comes the waiting. Susannah is almost more curious and certainly more comfortable about half siblings than she is about her donor. Half-sibs would be young people facing similar life situations to her whilst her donor would be an older man with whom she might have nothing (other than similar DNA) in common. She knows that the chances of making any sort of match are slim but wants to give it a go. In the meantime an exciting gap year between school and uni beckons.
Olivia Montuschi
Useful information:
Any donor offspring over 18 can register with UKDL.
Also pre-1991 donors and natural children of donors. There is no cost for
registration but DNA testing costs £88. 13 (inc. VAT) for offspring and
donors (reductions may be possible in some cases) but there is no charge
for birth parents. Most registrations are currently taking place on line,
www.ukdonorlink.org.uk but the team are happy to talk to families and
potential registrants on 0113 278 3217, or email info@ukdonorlink.org.uk
or to correspond via UK Donor Link, 31 Moor Road, Leeds LS6 4BG
As this is a pilot study for the time being, UKDL are interested in
knowing how much potential interest from donor offspring and their
families there is in genetic linking. If your child or young person has
expressed curiosity about their donor or half-siblings UKDL would like to
know.
Update:
There is an encouraging amount of interest in registering with
UKDL and numbers are increasing steadily month by month. There are
approximately half the number of donors to DC adults registering and
about two thirds of these are opting for DNA testing. Registrants are
widely spread throughout the UK and abroad.
DCN Members will be familiar with the film 'Offspring' which shows
Canadian Barry Stevens search for his donor which resulted in the finding
of a half-sibling in London. 'Offspring' is available to be borrowed from
our library.
