‘AT FIRST I WAS CYNICAL AND HARD TO WIN OVER’: WHAT PETER’S CHILDREN SAY

Teresa Murtha, 35, grew up in Denver and now lives in California. She is studying for a doctorate in psychology

When I discovered Peter was my father, I felt some bitterness. I thought the way he went about donating sperm was reckless, but now I have a different perspective.

I grew up in a nuclear family, and my parents divorced when I was six. At 16, I discovered that I’d been born from donor sperm. At the time it was tough – though I eventually got used to the idea.

In autumn 2017, I remember sitting at my desk, thinking: ‘My life is so boring.’ Then Rachel messaged me via the website Ancestry DNA, saying: ‘I think I’m your sister.’ I was in shock. Two days later I met Peter and five or six of my ‘new’ siblings at a gathering. This took a lot of digesting – yes, we were related, but I knew nothing about them.

When it came to Peter himself, I was initially cynical and hard to win over. He was warm and friendly, but I thought, ‘This guy is an actor: it all could be a façade.’

But the intervening six years have taught me nothing is further from the truth. I’ve grown up a bit and now see I was myopic: Peter is so genuine. We see one another about once a month – often we’ll have dinner or watch a play.

All my siblings are jovial and upbeat – everyone brings something to the table. These relationships are a blessing.

Courtney Krone, 27, an accounting assistant and book-keeper, is based in California Michael, Brittany and I are triplets and Peter is our biological dad. We only found out our ‘dad’ wasn’t our dad at 17 during a school project. My siblings took a blood sample in anatomy class: our blood types were the same as one another, but not the same as our father’s.

By then, our parents had divorced. We confronted our mother, who told us the truth.

It didn’t impact our lives that much then: the three of us had each other. But when Rachel got in touch in 2017 via the donor website, it all moved very quickly.

In November that year, some of the siblings met up, and I was curious to see what they were like. My first impression of Peter was that he was outgoing and open – so different to me as I’m pretty shy, and I wasn’t sure to begin with.

But as we spent more time together, I loved the fact he was interested in getting to know me. In 2019, he took me to Europe. I had never been overseas before. I loved being with him, learning how to travel. I hear about donor dads who don’t want to be part of their children’s lives, but Peter is always hospitable and just wants to see the good in everyone. I feel lucky to have him as a dad.