Brody's Notes... British Teen Secretly Donated Sperm To Lesbian Aunt & Partner

Sarah Ashman and her partner Claire(L) with children Carlton and Sarah conceived from sperm donated by nephew Charlie Lowden (R)

By Mark Singer (Washington DC) JAN 3 | In an article published last Thursday by British blogger and parenting journalist Katy Holland, on the AOL Blog, "parentdish.co.UK," she reports that a 20 year old construction scaffolding worker from Choppington in Northumberland,UK, had secretly doanted sperm to his Lesbian aunt and her partner when he was only 15 years old.

Sadly, Charlie Lowden, died in December of 2009 after being discharged from Hexham General Hospital in Northumberland following a routine hernia operation. His parents, Charles and Lynn Lowden allege that he was not given proper protection against blood clots and have launched legal proceedings.

It was after Charlie's death that it was revealed that his parents were actually the biological grandparents of the two children his aunt Sarah Ashman and her partner Claire are raising.

Holland wrote:

Charlie Lowden knew his aunt Sarah Ashman and her partner Claire wanted to have children, and unofficially offered to donate his sperm. They agreed to keep his identity secret. Claire, now 30, from Choppington in Northumberland, subsequently gave birth to a boy, Carlton, now five.

Three years later the couple asked him to donate again, which he did, resulting in Sarah, who is now two.

Charlie's parents Charles and Lynn are now coming to terms with the fact that the two children they considered to be their nephew and niece are actually their biological grandchildren.

In an interview by the London based The Daily Telegraph newspaper, Mrs Lowden said:

"When our Charles died we were broken hearted. We thought we had nothing left of him. But there is. I just wish that we had known about all of this before he died so that Charlie could know we had accepted it. When Charlie died, Sarah said I had no idea how special he had been to her – but now I do."

In the interview with The Daily Telegraph, Mrs Lowden maintains that despite her sister's son being "the spitting double" of his father, her son, she remained "quite oblivious'"to the truth. She said that even though Charlie used to grab the boy, hold him up to the mirror and laugh, "Who's the daddy? I'm the daddy," Mrs Lowden still did not realize what he was saying.
Her sister Sarah, who entered a civil partnership with Claire last year after 13 years together, said:

"Charles was very special to me. He was great. When he died, it was our secret. But I had to tell Lynn. I couldn't go through life not telling her because they are her grandchildren."