The CBC Diversity initiative was founded in 2012, as part of the Children’s Book Council’s commitment to promoting diverse voices in literature for young people. We believe that all children deserve to see their world reflected in the books they read. We recognize that diversity takes on many forms, including differences in race, religion, gender, geography, sexual orientation, class, and ability.
The Changing Face of Family
Contributed by Natasha Friend
Every book has a conception story. Mine begins with the shameless binge-watching of an MTV reality series called “Generation Cryo.” Over the course of six episodes, the show follows 17-year-old Breeanna, daughter of a lesbian couple who was conceived via sperm donation, on a search for her genetic half-siblings. Thanks to the Donor Sibling Registry, Bree connects with Jonah and Hilit and Jayme and Jesse and Paige and Molly and Will, and ultimately brings everyone together to track down their biological father.
Prior to watching the show, I had only a cursory understanding of sperm donation and its effects on families. I understood the science, but I knew nothing of the emotional fallout—of how angry and hurt and confused some donor-conceived children could grow up to be, or how fraught the relationships with the non-biological parents who were raising them could become. I was fascinated by the idea of a new “insta-family.” Unlike children conceived via sperm donation prior to the 1990’s, today’s generation of donor-conceived kids have access to Internet search engines, registry websites, social media, and video chat technology, all of which allow them to connect with their genetic half-siblings, and even with their sperm donor, in a mind-blowingly short amount of time.
As a 21st century mom, psychology major, and YA author, how could I not write a book about this?
