“I fell in love with my sperm donor”
Jessica Share never dreamed that she’d meet her daughter’s anonymous biological father, but now they hope to get married after finding each other online
Laughing and joking around the dinner table, Jessica Share, her partner Aaron, and their daughter, Alice, look like the perfect family. But despite being Alice’s biological parents, Jessica and Aaron didn’t meet until 12 years after her birth.
GETTING PREGNANT
For, Jessica and her ex-wife used an anonymous sperm donor in 2004. And Jessica and Aaron only met accidentally when an online DNA test revealed that he and Alice were related.
Now, against the odds, Jessica and Aaron are completely in love and are even planning their future together.
Jessica, 42, who is a marketing expert and lives with Aaron, 52, Alice, 13, Aaron’s daughter, Maddie, 21, and his mother, Mary, 84, says, “I never imagined I’d meet my sperm donor, let alone fall in love with him.
“But it feels like I’ve known Aaron forever – his mannerisms and smile are the same as Alice’s and completely perfect.
“People may be shocked by our story, but starting a relationship with Aaron was the best thing I’ve ever done.”
Jessica – who is bisexual – first investigated sperm donation in March 2004 after being with her wife for five years.
She says, “My wife and I had always dreamed of having kids together and finding a sperm donor seemed like the logical option.
“I agreed to carry the baby and we wanted to find a donor who looked like my partner too.
“So, after hours of browsing the online catalogue provided by a fertility clinic, we decided upon Aaron. We couldn’t see a photo of him but he described himself as being of average build, with brown, wavy hair.
“He also listed his profession as a writer, musician and taxi driver. He seemed creative and fun and just what we wanted for our child.”
Jessica bought the sperm for around £400 per month. And over the next seven months attempted to artificially inseminate herself.
She says, “I got pregnant in October 2004. It was amazing. The process had been incredibly stressful and I was worried that it’d never work.”
Alice was born the following June.
Jessica says, “People said she looked just like me, but the first thing I noticed were her beautiful emerald eyes. Mine are very dark brown, so I knew she must have inherited them from her father.”
Jessica and her partner were so in awe of their little girl that they decided to have another baby using the same donor, nine months later. This time, Jessica’s partner carried the baby, and both girls shared similarities.
DNA TESTS
Jessica says, “They were incredibly creative, they loved writing stories and drawing pictures.
“We enjoyed picking out their resemblances. They were both tall, had long, thin mouths, small noses and the same eyes. It was fascinating.
“And we always made sure that the girls knew where they came from and explained that every family is different.”
Sadly, in 2008, Jessica and her wife separated and Jessica’s partner moved out. Seven years later, her youngest daughter went to live with her too.
Jessica says, “Alice was
devastated. It also made her think more about family and where her ancestors had come from.
“So, when she was 11, she asked for a DNA testing kit for Christmas to find out more about her heritage.”
The results came back eight weeks later, in 2017, but Jessica wasn’t prepared for what they revealed.
She says, “The results were on an ancestry website. I clicked on the DNA Relatives section of the site and the first thing I read was ‘Aaron Long: 50% match. Father’.
“I was stunned and my hands were shaking as I typed out a message telling him that he was my daughters’ dad and asked if he wanted to see photos of them.
“I felt nervous but Aaron was thrilled and wrote me a huge email telling me everything about himself, and that he’d been a sperm donor for a year in 1994 to earn some extra money.
“He’d taken the same DNA test just two months before to track his ancestry – but never expected to find any of his children. It was surreal.”
HITTING IT OFF
Jessica and Aaron stayed in touch. And when two of Aaron’s older children – who had also met through the site – arranged to fly out to Seattle, USA, to see him, Aaron invited Alice and Jessica along too.
She says, “I thought it would be a great opportunity for Alice to meet her relatives. Aaron had organised a party for his children to meet everyone. He was so proud.
“We got chatting and hit it off straight away. I had a boyfriend at the time, but Aaron was single and even flirtatiously suggested that I was dating the wrong man! My heart couldn’t help but flutter.”
Two months later, Jessica’s relationship ended and she couldn’t get Aaron out of her head.
She says, “Aaron came to visit us and, one night, we went for a walk and talked about our children and dreams.
“It was magical. I was attracted to Aaron for the same reasons I chose him when selecting a sperm donor all those years ago.”
From that point, Aaron asked Jessica and Alice to move in with him and his daughter Maddie, 21 – who had also found him through the site.
Jessica says, “Initially, I was scared about starting a relationship with him as I didn’t want to ruin anything for Alice – but Aaron seemed so kind that I knew everything would be all right.”
And the family have never looked back.
Jessica says, “Alice calls Aaron my boyfriend, rather than her dad, but they get on brilliantly.
“I can’t imagine being with anyone else – and although Aaron and I don’t want any more children together, I love the fact that he may have over 67 kids and has helped to bring life into the world. I find it so exciting that more children could track him down at any moment.
“Our relationship may be unusual, but our family and friends are so supportive and we couldn’t be happier. One day, we even hope to get married. It’s a true love story.”
❛ ALICE CALLS AARON MY BOYFRIEND RATHER THAN HER DAD, BUT THEY GET ON BRILLIANTLY ❜