A 62-year-old woman was shocked to learn that not only was she conceived with a sperm donor through artificial insemination, but she also had 11 siblings.
In “Born Of Both Strangers,” Corrine Armstrong shared his emotional story. His father died from complications related to diabetes when he was just seven years old, and at first, he was worried that he might develop diabetes as well. Her mother told her that she was not really biologically related to the man who raised her.
Armstrong appeared on the show to get more answers about his conception and heritage, as well as to see if he could find any biological family members.
“It’s important for me to do this now after all these years without knowing anything,” he said. “I think my parents were very ahead of their time, I think they were very modern thinking. But since it was the late fifties, it was a big secret. My mother told me it was in an Exeter hospital, and it was a girl [gynecologist]That’s all I really know, but there must be something somewhere.”
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On the show, Armstrong met with Dr. Caroline Rusterholz, a historian of reproductive health at the Bishopsgate Institute in London. “At the time artificial insemination was very controversial, some said it was like adultery,” Rusterholz explains. “There are only six practitioners doing artificial donor insemination in Britain. One is in Exeter and her name is Margaret Jackson.
As he listened, Armstrong cried, saying, “I’m sorry, it’s just weird.”
Through DNA research, he found out that he had 11 siblings, some of whom he had already met, and they hoped that in time, they would find out who their father was. “Wow, that’s a lot. I didn’t think that so many would confess to you,” she said. “I think this is the beginning, we will research more and more, and we may find a connection with our donor.”
Another woman featured on the same show learned that her biological father, a sperm donor, had died a month before she was born. Some people who find out they were donor-conceived often react with shock, and find out they have hundreds – even thousands – of siblings.
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