Mum Meets Boyfriend 12 Years After Giving Birth To His Daughter

There are no set rules which dictate where and when you will meet your love.

That said, it's not normally 12 years after you've had their child. She had literally never met him.

So how did this happen?

You see, Jessica Share's boyfriend is the anonymous sperm donor with whom she conceived of her 12-year-old daughter Alice.

She is just one of around 67 children Aaron Long estimates he may be the father of as a result of sperm donations and documentary, Forty Dollars A Pop, follows his journey to reconnect with his children.

Jessica had two children with Aaron's sperm, having selected him from a catalogue with her former wife. But her wife ended the relationship and cut off all contact with Jessica and daughter Alice - taking their other daughter with her.

As Alice got older, she became more curious about her blood relatives. After ordering a DNA testing kit and doing some digging online, Jessica was able to track down Aaron.

They shared their stories online and after realising Aaron was welcoming his other children into his life, Jessica decided to take Alice to meet him in Seattle.

Over time, Jessica began questioning whether Aaron could be more than just the genetic father to her children.

Speaking to the BBC, she said: "I found myself wondering if my children's person could also be my person, and if Seattle was a place for us to land while we figured it out.

"When heterosexual people meet and date and get married, they often look with devotion at one another and think it would be wonderful to have little people who look like both of them. I'd already spent a decade with those little people.

"I spent my first date with Aaron relaying their lives to him. I already knew him and knew he was just like these 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."

Jessica is now with Aaron and she and Alice have moved in with him and some of his other genetic relatives, in some kind of far-flung family reunion.

Jessica says genetics have proven to be far more significant than she thought - but love will always be the most important in a family.

She said: "It's hard to tell if DNA played a role in our relationship. I know that I am attracted to Aaron for all the reasons that seemed wonderful when shopping for him in a sperm donor catalogue years ago.

"DNA has become far more important than it was when I first picked a donor from a page. Yet it hasn't replaced the truism that families are built on love, not genes.

"Being open to that love is what ultimately makes a family."

... And you thought your family history was interesting.

Topics: TV and Entertainment, Interesting, Community

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey