A Maryland woman who was conceived via sperm donation recently took a DNA test and discovered that she has 65 brothers and sisters all over North America.
Brenna Siperko, a 20-year-old who was raised Ellicott City, Maryland, had known for most of her life that she was a sperm donor baby, but only recently found out how many siblings she has through her biological father’s donation.
In January 2022, Siperko took a 23andMe DNA test and found out that she had 13 siblings. Once she discovered them, they connected her to even more individuals who were conceived with the same father.
So far the young woman has discovered she has 65 half-siblings.
She told USA Today she had expected a least a few undiscovered members of her family, saying, “I had always thought I probably have siblings somewhere, or at least a couple since I come from a donor. I took my test and found out from 23andMe.“
The discovery of dozens of blood relatives was “exciting” for Siperko, who grew up in an only-child household for much of her life with her mom and her stepdad. Eventually her parents had a son, but that was the extent of her family until she took the DNA test as a young woman.
She has gotten to know several of her newfound half-siblings, finding out that they not only share a biological father, but that many of them are around the same age and share similar interests.
She stated, “I found people my age. It was really exciting because I found people with common interests who I could become close to. They’re really easy to talk to.”
Siperko described her new family network, which she now engages in a family group chat, as a built-in support group. She told the outlet that whenever she has an issue or is excited to share something, she will text the group and they will give her feedback.
The young woman revealed that she has met at least six half-siblings who live in Maryland, noting that there are more of them in her home state than anywhere else in the country.
Among them is 27-year-old Fabiana, who lives in Baltimore. Siperko said that she and her other siblings look up to Fabiana as a wise older sister who they go to for advice.
“She’s kind of like the mom of the group, I suppose. She gives the best advice,” Siperko claimed.
Her other sperm donor siblings are spread out throughout North America, with some living in Canada, Texas, New York, Florida, Michigan, New Jersey and California.
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She also remarked that she sees plenty of physical resemblances among her and her newfound siblings.
Siperko stated, “A lot of our eyes are the same. It’s like darker, more almond-shaped eyes … If you just put side-by-side pictures, you could definitely see the resemblance, kind of in the face shape, the eyebrows, sometimes the nose.”
The young woman added, “It’s weird to see myself in other people who I haven’t known my whole life.”
Though Siperko has been excited to meet her family, there has been controversy surrounding sperm donors and the massive families that can come from their donations.
Donor Sibling Registry co-founder and director Wendy Kramer, who helped connect Shiperko with 38 of her half siblings, mentioned the lack of regulations for donating sperm. Specifically, she claimed that clinic involved in the practice do not have “accurate record-keeping on the children born.”
She told USA Today that it’s irresponsible for this industry to create so many of these half-sibling families without keeping medical records of each member. Additionally, Kramer argued that clinics need to put a limit on how many children can be had from each donor.
The donor advocate stated, “It’s just about a profit for selling sperm with no thought whatsoever given to the human beings they’re helping to create.”
Kramer also spoke from her own experience having a child via sperm donation, stating, “I used California Cryobank and my son has … half-siblings coast to coast, up and down, even in Puerto Rico. You never know where your half siblings can be.”
Fox News Digital reached out to a major sperm bank for response to some of Kramer’s criticisms and is waiting for a response.
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