She Set Out to Find Her Daughter’s Sperm Donor. What Happened Next Is Unbelievable
By NoelGRSr
Image: Australian Broadcasting Corporation
When Aminah Hart first met the father of her daughter Leila, she was a bundle of nerves. But Hart wasn’t a shy teenager at a school dance – she was a woman in her 40s who had just succeeded in tracking down the hitherto anonymous sperm donor who had helped her become a mother.
When the pair finally met in Melbourne, Australia, just a few days after Leila had turned one year old, they immediately bonded over their beautiful daughter. However, no one could have predicted the crazy twist that their lives were about to take.
For Hart, her daughter was the much-longed-for bright spot in a life marred by tragedy. Originally born in London, she married and gave birth to a son named Marlon. But after just four months, Marlon passed away and her marriage broke down soon after.
In time, Hart moved to Australia and met a new partner, giving birth to a second son, Louis. However, fate was to deal her another tough blow. Two months after his first birthday, Louis also sadly passed away.
This time, doctors investigated and discovered that a genetic condition was to blame. Unknown to her, Hart had been passing on a condition known as X-linked myotubular myopathy to her sons, affecting their muscle strength and ability to breathe unaided.
She wanted to have a child, but she was faced with a very difficult decision. There was a 25 percent chance that she would pass the condition on to any future children she gave birth to.
Eventually, at 42 years old, she decided to give motherhood one last shot. As a single woman, she turned to IVF treatment to help her conceive a healthy baby.
Hart was given a choice of five donors to be the potential father of her child. The one that caught her eye was Scott Andersen – although at that point she didn’t know his surname – an Australian cattle farmer who had described himself simply as “happy and healthy” on his sperm donor form, according to the Telegraph.
The procedure was a success, and nine months later she gave birth to a healthy baby girl. Hart named her Leila, and finally settled in to her long-awaited life as a mother.
However, a piece of the puzzle was still missing. Hart had never known her own estranged father – eventually tracking down his location only to find that he had recently passed away. For her, it was important to seek out Leila’s biological father.
Hart only knew Andersen’s first name, and the fact that he worked as a cattle farmer and football coach. But she and her mother managed to locate the donor via an internet search.
Not wanting to infringe on his privacy, however, she reached out to him via the IVF program. And although he was under no legal obligation to have contact with his daughter, Andersen agreed to a meeting with Leila and her mom.
Andersen was intrigued by photographs of his little girl, who has curly blonde hair and blue eyes just like him. He made the 80-mile journey to Melbourne from his home on Phillip Island, Victoria, to meet her face to face.
“It was surreal,” he told the Telegraph newspaper, “I was looking at this little girl – she looks like my other kids and me. It was overwhelming at the start. It wasn’t really my daughter, but it was.
Both parents found the situation odd at first. But Andersen immediately felt a strong bond with his biological daughter, and he and Hart agreed that he should be involved in the young girl’s life.
Initially, Hart took Leila to meet Andersen once a month, before the visits increased in frequency to once a week. The little girl immediately fitted in with her new family, which included Andersen’s four children from previous marriages.
“My children all adored her,” said Andersen. “Leila is just a happy kid. She didn’t want to go home and she cuddled the boys the whole time.”
However, over time this unlikely family dynamic developed into something even more extraordinary. One day, unable to leave Phillip Island due to a closed road, Andersen and Hart went for a beer to kill some time – and ended up sharing a kiss.
Even though Andersen said that Hart was “out of my league,” romance blossomed between the pair. Then, on a holiday in Thailand, he popped out for some milk for Leila and came back brandishing an engagement ring for Hart.
Now, in an incredible happy ending to a very modern fairytale, the couple plans to wed. And with Working Title – the production company behind movies such as Love Actually and Bridget Jones’ Diary – reputedly interested in developing the story, it really could become a fable for the next generation.