Donor Conceived
USA
My dad will always be my dad, but at the age of 30, my parents decided it was time to tell me that my dad was not my biological father. Everyone in my immediate and extended family already knew this except for me. They were afraid of how I would respond. All they ever wanted were happy children. It’s understandable.
I am very pale skinned and curly haired, but I could be like Carol Channing or Anatole Broyard for all I am able to find out-passing for white. With a genetics test, I was able to verify that my older brother is my half-brother (our mom doesn’t know this yet) and that I am 2.8% neanderthal, but I will never know who my biological father is. The records are sealed or perhaps no one ever wrote down his name in the first place. The insemination clinic wouldn’t tell me. Together with thousands of other Monsanto-like, genetically modified human beings, I will try to find my identity once again. I will, however, never again check the boxes for the “optional” race and ethnicity forms. I would be lying to say I knew.
