Lyndal Bubke only recently discovered she was conceived with the help of a sperm donor after her parents were advised in the 90s to keep the information secret from her. Photo / A Current Affair, Nine
An Australian woman is calling for national legislation for sperm donation after she tracked down 77 half-siblings.
Lyndal Bubke was conceived with the help of donor sperm via IVF at Queensland Fertility Group in the early 1990s but didn’t realise that was the case until she recently did an ancestry test.
She was immediately alerted to 11 half-siblings but that number has grown exponentially with further investigation.
Bubke has since been able to ascertain that the donor her parents used donated sperm to that clinic 325 times over a period of five years.
Not every donation results in a pregnancy or a live birth, but she also believes he may have donated to a second clinic, leading her to fear that the true number of siblings she has may be significantly higher.
“There will be more,” Bubke told A Current Affair this week.
“The donor donated 325 times and they kept using that sperm for years and years and years.
“We’ve probably got, I’d say, between 250 and 350 siblings out there. That’s a reasonably conservative estimate.”
At the time Bubke was conceived, donors were able to remain anonymous, something that was changed nationally in 2005.
Information about genetic siblings is available to all donor-conceived Australians, including those born to anonymous donors before 2004, but in Queensland these records aren’t held in central sperm donation registries like in other states, but are kept by individual clinics.
Paper records from the time have been hard to track down and Bubke suspects her parents’ doctor, who has since died, may have destroyed many.
“You go to these clinics, you trust the doctors,” Bubke said, “Goodness knows our parents trusted the doctors and this happened.
“Without the legislation, it will happen again.”
In NSW and Western Australia, no more than five families are able to have children using the same donor sperm. Last year, Queensland’s legislation was brought in line with South Australia and Victoria which state a maximum of 10 families are able to have children from the same donor’s sperm.
Bubke would like to see that number lowered to a maximum of six families – currently there is no legal national limit – and for a centrally-held national register for sperm donors to be created.
A spokesperson from Queensland Fertility Group told news.com.au in a statement that the clinic “expresses empathy for the individuals featured in the recent A Current Affair segment. We acknowledge their experience and take their concerns seriously.
“Since 2006, Queensland Fertility Group has enforced a policy which self-imposes a limit of ten families per donor. This self-imposed limit is consistent with the family limits now contained in the Queensland Assisted Reproductive Technology Act 2024.
“QFG remains committed to transparency, continuous improvement and the Federal government’s IVF industry reform agenda.”
Not knowing exactly how many genetic siblings exist has created anxiety around dating for some of Bubke’s half-siblings.
Gabe, her half-brother, said the potential of crossing paths with a half-sibling when dating weighs on him.
“It certainly plays on my mind quite a bit, I know that if I’m dating, I’ve got to be cautious,” he said. “I need to ask on the first date, ‘Do you know where you come from? Are your parents your parents?’”.
Sammy, who was also conceived with the same donor sperm, expressed concern for the next generation of children who will face an even higher probability of crossing paths with someone they are genetically related to.
“It’s a massive fear for my son in the future,” she said.
In an emotional Facebook post shared last year when she had only tracked down 32 siblings, Bubke admitted it’s unlikely she and her siblings will ever know how many children were born using that same donor sperm.
“What if someone I know already is a sibling? What if someone I already don’t like is a sibling? What if someone I dated is a sibling. The thought is so upsetting and it never goes away,” she wrote.
“Similarly, if I have 32+ siblings, how many cousins would children have? If I have kids, what are the risks of them dating someone they’re closely related to and now knowing?
“It’s a horrible, uncomfortable thought that people don’t like to think about, but it’s reality and we need to be aware of the risks.”
She went on to say that while she would love to be able to know all of her siblings, the sheer number of them is daunting.
“I wish I didn’t have as many siblings as I do,” she said, “I am so grateful to know and really like the 11 siblings I am in touch with, but that number already about maxes out my ability to develop meaningful relationships with them.
“Family is really important to me, and I would like to treat these relationships with the respect and time they deserve, but I won’t be able to do that.
“Every single day I think about them and the other unknown siblings who are out there.”
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