Source: Ittipol Nampochai / EyeEm / Getty
As many of us go into 2019 hoping it might be the year we find love, one young woman is sharing an amazing story that’ll keep you optimistic about finding your one true person. Her name is Jessica Share and as she tells BBC, she bought sperm from an anonymous man to start a family with her wife at the time, not knowing that more than a decade later she would meet her sperm donor and fall in love with him. What are the odds?
Hit the flip to see how it all went down, as told by BBC Stories on Twitter. Plus, more photos of their family here.
“Jessica and her wife had dreamed about having kids together ever since they’d met, even going as far as choosing their names. But the next step was more difficult,” @BBCStories begins.
“They found a sperm bank that shipped to their home, and set to work selecting a donor. Jessica would carry the first baby and they matched the donor to her wife – choosing a donor of average height and weight who had wavy brown hair and liked sports.” – @BBCStories
“Seven months later Jessica was pregnant and she and her wife were overjoyed. When Alice was born, she was perfect, and the couple decided to order more sperm from the same donor so that Alice could have a sibling, this time carried by Jessica’s wife.” – @BBCStories
“Alice’s sister was born 18 months later, and it became a fun game to pick out characteristics only the girls shared. They were extraordinarily tall, not average height as the donor claimed to be, had long, thin mouths, small noses, electric eyes and impeccable vocabularies.” – @BBCStories
“But a few years later, Jessica’s wife ended their relationship. Heartbroken, Jessica continued parenting the sisters five days a week for a few years. Later her ex-wife refused to return Alice’s younger sister following a vacation and cut off all contact with both of them.” – @BBCStories
As Alice grew up she became more interested in her ancestry, and one Christmas asked her grandmother for a DNA testing kit. The results came back eight weeks later. The first thing Jessica read was, “Aaron Long: 50%. Father.” “Bryce: 25%. Half-brother” was right behind.” – @BBCStories
“Jessica looked for Alice’s biological father online, eventually finding an Aaron Long matching the few details she had about the original donor. When she saw his school photos that he’d posted online there was no doubt – her daughters made the same stupid face!” – @BBCStories
“Jessica wrote to Aaron on the DNA testing site. He replied immediately and they swapped life stories. She also wrote to Alice’s half-brother Bryce, who’d just graduated from college. He revealed that he’d already found more half-siblings, including a 19-year-old named Madi.” – @BBCStories
“A few months later, Bryce and Madi made plans to visit Aaron in Seattle. Alice was interested to find out whether the siblings and Aaron resembled her, so her and Jessica joined the unusual family reunion.” – @BBCStories
“The trip was a success, with everyone getting on well. But Jessica was conscious that while Aaron was an important person for the children, he wasn’t someone who should necessarily be part of her life.” – @BBCStories
“Jessica was in a long-term relationship with another man (coincidentally also named Aaron) at the time, but when that ended, she remembered donor Aaron’s kindness, and found herself wondering: could her children’s person could also be her person?” – @BBCStories
“They met up again, and immediately something clicked. ‘I already knew he was just like the people I love more than anyone else in the world. He was already family in some ways. His smirk and his colouring are those of my youngest daughter. His empathy and socialism? My eldest.’” — @BBCStories
Hit the flip to see how it all ended, plus a photo of Jessica, Aaron, their daughter Alice, and Alice’s siblings.
