Letters to the Editor

My name is Geraldine Hewitt and I'm an 18-year-old donor conceived adult, which means I was conceived through anonymous donor sperm. My parents sought fertility treatment at the Royal Hospital for Women (RHW) in Paddington, Sydney.

Until recently I held the assumption that my donor had most probably been a medical student.

However, I have spoken to a staff member at the RHW who indicated that many who participated in the donor insemination program at the hospital were recruited from the Navy.

I am contacting your publication requesting that servicemen who donated their sperm to the RHW (and other clinics/hospitals) could contact the social work department or counsellor at the hospital/clinic at which they made their donations to update their medical and social history.

Alternatively, donors could also contact the Donor Conception Support Group of Australia (DCSG) on 9724 1366 or at dcsg@optushome.com.au.

The DCSG caters for donors of egg, sperm and embryo, as well as couples who use such procedures to conceive, and children or adults conceived through donor egg, sperm or embryo.

In no way am I searching for my donor in order to gain a replacement father figure, nor to gain financial support.

My dad has been my dad for nearly 19 years and nothing will ever change that. I regard my donor as a man who enabled me to have life - not as a father.

Also, under the Donor Conception Act 1984, NSW, sperm donors have no financial responsibility towards their biological children who are conceived through reproductive medicine.

I would like to know about the man who contributed to 50 percent of my medical and social history so that I can have a better sense of my identity and so that my medical history is complete.

The RHW has tried to locate my donor but since records have been partially destroyed and he started donating his sperm 20 years ago, they have been unable as yet to contact my donor.

The hospital has now established a voluntary register where donors and their biological offspring (people like myself) can contact each other.

I think that donors should be made aware of this so that they can make an educated and informed decision about whether or not they would like to initiate contact with their biological children.

Since infertility afflicts one in seven Australian couples it is quite possible that many Navy servicemen and women and their partners have used donor egg, sperm or embryos in order to conceive their much-wanted family.

I feel they would also benefit from reading about the Donor Conception Support Group since there is not a great deal of support for families created through reproductive medicine, particularly regards telling children about how they were conceived.

Most parents deceive their children about their biological heritage out of fear that their children will in some way reject their dad on the basis that he is not their biological father.

These families need to be informed that this is most definitely not the case. I love my mum and dad and I would've been devastated if they had not been honest with me from the start about how I was conceived (I was told at five-and-a-half).

There will be those Navy personnel who have donated in the past as well as current donors, Navy personnel who have had their families with the assistance of donor gametes (egg, sperm or embryos).

With the oldest known adults conceived from donor sperm in Australia being 42-year-old twins, there may even be members of the Navy who were born from donor sperm.

You can contact me via email (Geraldine_Hewitt@hotmail.com), or on 02-9724 1826 or 0411-627764.

Geraldine Hewitt,
Sydney.

Memories of Gascoyne renewed by photograph

Being a subscriber to Navy News, I was delighted to see a group photograph of original members of WWII frigate HMAS Gascoyne, published on February 4.

Memories came flooding back. I was serving in a RAAF fighter squadron on Los Negros Island (Admiralty Islands) in 1944 and while working on one of our aircraft, my crew-mate and I were surprised and very pleased to see a small group of Australian Navy boys approaching our maintenance area.

At this stage of our tropical service, we had been operating through the islands for 15 months (Goodenough, Kiriwina) and this was the first occasion that anyone from our own services had made contact with us.

There were six of them from the frigate Gascoyne and their ship was anchored in Seeadler Harbour.

On a brief shore leave, they heard a number of RAAF squadrons were operating from Momote airstrip, so set out and found us. We invited them to share a meagre lunch with us, which they gratefully accepted.

We had so much mainland news to talk about, so they invited us back to their ship that evening. After a quick evening meal, 15 of us set off and arrived at Red Beach Quay at 7pm.

A ship's boat from Gascoyne was waiting for us, including one of the lads we met earlier in the day.

On coming alongside our host ship, the rest of our sailor friends were leaning over the handrail, and with beaming smiles and handshakes, received us warmly on board as we stepped from the gangway.

We were quickly taken below to their mess area in the focsle and introduced to the rest of the off-duty crew.

Fresh bread sandwiches soon appeared, coffee was available and later a few bottles of Australian beer were introduced.

We learned that their ship was comparitively new, having been commissioned late in 1943 and the ship's captain was LCDR J Donovan.

After a limited tour of their ship, it was time to go. We said our farewells at the gangway and just as we were leaving, they handed us a sack of potatoes and some fresh fruit.

What a wonderful occasion it was, what a great bunch of blokes they were and what an appropriate time for our two services to get together - it was Anzac Day eve, April 24, 1944.

Arthur Gately,

Ex-member 79 Spitfire Sqn,
Panania, NSW