An Adventure for the Whole Family

October 19, 2011 Wisconsin Public Television Leave a Comment

Watch Independent Lens “Donor Unknown” 9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 21 on Wisconsin Public Television.

Imagine with me for a minute that you grew up not knowing one of your biological parents. Well, maybe you don’t have to imagine, but a good number of us can barely comprehend it. Now, imagine that you don’t know who your biological parent is, but you know that there could be dozens of biological siblings walking the earth – all wearing the same foreheads and eyebrows as your very own. All right…enough imagining. This Friday Independent Lens gives you the opportunity to experience all this through the eyes of JoEllen Marsh, a 20-year-old (with that same set of eyebrows) who learns through a social networking site that she is but one of countless blood relatives – all children of the same sperm donor.

Raised in Pennsylvania, JoEllen learns that she has a half-sister in New York. When the New York Times picks up the story, more siblings emerge and the article also falls into the hands of a man living alone with four dogs in a broken-down RV in Venice Beach, Calif.

Make the journey with JoEllen as she unites with her siblings and make the trip to California to meet their biological father, the mysterious Donor 150.

Watch A Family Reunion Unlike Any Other on PBS. See more from Independent Lens.