Impact of Fertility Tourism

I highlight the discovery of my artificial insemination by anonymous sperm donor-conception and search for my genetic truth in my coming book, Uprooted: Family Trauma, Unknown Origins and the Secretive History of Artificial Insemination, (www.peterjboni.com) to be released on January 4, 2022. Once my mother spilled the beans, she scantly recalled reading an advertisement, or was it an article, in a newspaper, or was it a magazine? Which one? A relatively new fertility practice under the sponsorship of a Harvard Med School professor offered to solve fertility issues experienced by childless couples. Six months after my parents’ first consultation, I was conceived.?

Thanks to my twenty-two years of research, most of my resulting questions about my conception have been answered. One detail in this mystery remains, however. I have found no such ad or article. Actually, there is a second mystery as well. Rather than wondering if I have any siblings, I ask, "How many siblings do I have, really?"

On a much enjoyed pleasure trip to Portugal and the Azores this past week, I was jolted to find such an advertisement centered on the english language side of a top seafood restaurant's menu. (Bar Caloura). Under Portuguese law. volunteer donors (no cash as a payment) are genetically screened, Their health profile is made fully available, Practitioners claim to match desired physical features. Donors are catalogued by their appearance and traits (physical, intellectual, and such). Don’t find what you want? Portugal can import gametes from other countries. Denmark, for instance, leads in the export of desired donor sperm (tall, fair-compexion, blue eyed, well-educated). Not bad, right? BUT…the obsolete practices of secrecy and anonymity remain in tact.

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So, there I was at lunch, overlooking an inlet with stunning, crashing waves and terrific food. Getting away from it all??? How and why did this advertisement find its way on this menu? The waiter couldn’t tell me, but he directed me to Abel, the manager. Abel was matter of fact. The restaurant is owned my one such fertility practitioner. He appeared to have uncovered a niche for his fertility practice…older professionally-employed American women on vacation, perhaps seeking to escape the hub-bub of daily on-the-job stress in hopes of getting pregnant in a pleasant, relaxing sea-side environment. A cloud of sadness hit me. Portugal’s fertility industry has continued the previous century's worldwide secretive practice of donor anonymity, without considering the impact of twenty-first century DNA technology that renders that secrecy obsolete.

I thoroughly enjoyed my freshly grilled fish, with some wonderful Portuguese side dishes, in a stunning setting. My wife and I were coming down from a stressful two years. We navigated both the COVID-19 pandemic and my reliving a traumatic time in my life as I researched and wrote a new book about the secretive and scandalous history of artificial insemination which helped create me.?

Some escape! I’m envisioning a sure thing as a result of this fertility ad...a newly discovered donor-conceived adult two or more decades from now with a similar unsettling genetic discovery as mine. The same unanswered questions. "In what newspaper or magazine article did Mom and Dad find the pathway for my creation?” Why did they keep my beginnings a secret and raise me as part of a genetic hoax, a willful parental lie, that denied my DNA truth? How many siblings do I have, really?" These birth secrets will find their way to become known truth in traumatic fashion for all those conceived as a result of this simple ad on a restaurant menu.

This ad has resurfaced my old feelings of trauma and disruption upon my own genetic discovery. I feel helpless that others long after I am gone will still be dealing with needless trauma due to faulty fertility industry practices. Yes, you were conceived when your mom and dad went on a Portuguese vacation, but your DNA and your birth certificate don’t jive. You are misattributed.

I aspire for Uprooted to make a difference, to become the go-to book for the participants in the Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) industry (doctors, gamete distributors, donors, recipients, lawyers, therapists, regulators), to make a positive difference in ART practices and to be representative of the feeling experienced by all misattributed people…fertility tourism ad or no ad, in the USA and around the globe.

Thanks for your support.