An Egg-Stra Special Family: An Egg-Donation Story - Hardcover

Dotterweich, Kathryn: - My name is Kathryn Dotterweich and I am graduating from the University of Virginia, Class of 2021, with a Bachelors of Art in both neuroscience and biology. I will be attending medical school in the fall of 2022 where I hope to pursue reproductive endocrinology, maternal fetal medicine, or neonatology. I am an avid equestrian and compete at many AA rated horse shows up and down the East Coast. I also enjoys spending time with her friends, volunteering at the OBGYN unit at the Martha Jefferson Hospital in Charlottesville, VA, and fostering dogs and puppies through Punta Santiago Dogs and the local SPCA in Charlottesville.I am an only child and was born in 1998 to my parents William and Lyn Dotterweich with the help of an anonymous egg donor. At this time, anonymous donation was really the only option. My parents did not tell me that I was conceived via egg donation until I was 20 years old, which came as a huge shock. After finding out I was donor conceived, I did AncestryDNA and through a second cousin and lots of internet snooping, I was able to locate my egg donor, Diane Lubinski. Diane was thrilled to hear from me, as she has always wondered if her egg donation had been able to give another family the gift of a child.The top reasons my parents cited when I asked why they did not tell me earlier was that they didn't know how or when to tell me and that egg donation is not common so they were afraid of what other people might think. Therefore, I have set out on a journey to normalize egg donation and help other parents tell their children at a young age. My biggest hope is that more parents will tell their children that they are conceived via egg donation very early in development so that it does not come as a shock when they are older. Even though the child will not understand the actual science behind sexual reproduction and egg donation, knowing that they are from an egg donor will make it easier to comprehend when they are older. This book is a way to help teach children how they were conceived in a cute, fun, and friendly way!