Seventeen-year-old Harper was raised by a single mother and has always wondered about her anonymous sperm donor father. Her mother claims to know nothing about him. Harper is deeply influenced by social media and projects a curated version of herself on Instagram—posting staged photos of herself looking adventurous or carefree, engineered by her boyfriend Ezra. Everything shifts when someone comments that Harper looks just like their friend Dario. This isn’t the first time Harper has heard this. She keeps a journal documenting these lookalikes. She reaches out to Dario, who shares her distinctive auburn hair and blue eyes. When they meet, Dario reveals he’s also a sperm donor child—and he’s done his research. He introduces Harper to three other half-siblings. Together with her half-siblings, Harper embarks on a journey to Hawaii to find their biological father.
DCP Stories Collection
- Book – Fiction
- Ages 13-18 (e.g., young adult/teen)
- Deb Caletti
- Sperm Donor
The Epic Story of Every Living Thing
Review
What’s Done Well
- Highlights the diversity of donor-conceived experiences. By including the multiple perspectives of Harper’s half-siblings, this book shows that there isn’t one donor conceived experience or one way to feel about being donor conceived.
What Bothered Us
- Muddies the waters of what qualifies as a donor conception narrative. Late in the book, it is revealed that Harper was conceived while her mom was in a brief relationship with her biological father, using donor conception as a plot twist. However, Harper’s half-siblings were conceived through assisted reproduction using their biological father’s sperm.
