Donor Unknown by Jerry Rothwell

"Hi, I’m your sister. Our father is donor 150". In November 2005, an article featured in the New York Times marked the beginning of a very special type of family reunion. 20-year-old JoEllen Marsch was raised by two mothers and was conceived with the sperm of Donor 150 of the California Cryobank. She traces a half-sister in New York City - Danielle, one year older - and after the New York Times picks up the story, a dozen other half-siblings show up.

The New York Times article also falls into the hands of Donor 150 himself, aka Jeffrey Harrison, a philosopher and hippie who lives with four dogs and a pigeon in a broken-down RV in a Venice Beach car park. Twenty years ago, for a period, he became a professional sperm donor. And because he was also a model for Playboy and a dancer, his profile caught the attention of many different women…

For the first time in history, a generation of children born through egg and sperm donors is old enough to find their genetic families around the world. How will this affect the evolution of families and the concept of parenthood?

Director Jerry Rothwell tackles this very delicate subject with humour, thoughtfulness and Californian-style positive vibes, showing the many repercussions of IVF from a moral, legal and even economic point of view. No answers are given and the aim is to keep the debate as open as possible (you can contribute online at http://donorunknown.com/the-debate); but even if this subject is one of the hottest clashes between science, ethics and religion, Rothwell keeps it easy, showing that in the end it all comes down to the possibility of generating new individuals - sometimes with a little help from a friend.

By Marta Musso