Analytical essay: 'My father, sperm donor 150'

Analytical essay ‘My father, sperm donor 150’When it comes to how a child grows up to be, the question whether nature or nurture is the most important factor is much discussed. When it comes to anonymous sperm donation, this is a relevant factor to look at. The child has been nurtured by its mother, but it also has 50% genes from its unknown father, and therefore the child and its mother(s) may wonder if some of its skills and features come from this unknown father. This can affect the family’s life because of these speculations, and the child may be more likely to get an identity crisis than any other children because something is missing for it. In The Guardian’s article “My father, sperm donor 150”, published by The Independent in 2011, we meet JoEllen Marsh, who has a sperm donor as her father, and we get a look inside her thoughts about sperm donation and being a donor child. This article and the clip from the documentary “Donor Unknown”, directed by Jerry Rothwell in 2010 shows us that there are many great problems with anonymous sperm donation. For JoEllen Marsh, the identity crisis was a big part of her growing up: “The way I moved was not like the rest of my family”(P3, l 27). It may seem like she is overanalysing her every move and comparing it to her family after she knows about the sperm donation, because a factor as the way we move not is something every child will think about. If she is comparing everything about herself to her family, it is a good example of an identity crisis because she is trying to reflect herself in an adult. It is therefore clear that JoEllen Marsh had a lot of unanswered questions, and she could not get an answer to these, which of course had an effect on her.It is overwhelming for both the sperm donor and the child to meet the other, which we also understand from the article. Especially the child has imagined a lot of things about this ‘father’, and it may be rather intimidating for the father to live up to this, while it is different for the child to not get disappointed. Despite this, JoEllen says that “Accepting Jeffrey for who he is and actually getting to know him was the most important part”(P. 5, l. 127), which tells us that accepting the biological father is important for the children, and maybe she speaks of experience, because she was disappointed until she chose to accept Jeffrey.