STEPH SEEKS FAMILY

APPEAL: DID YOU KNOW MY BIOLOGICAL FATHER?

After 17 years, donor child Steph Raeymaekers finally finds her - unfortunately - deceased biological father. She launches a call: have you ever known him?

Antwerp, January 2, 2021 - After a search of 17 years, Steph Raeymaekers (41), chairman of Donorkinderen vzw and board member of the Donor Detectives, has finally managed to find out her real origins. She did this by working out the family trees of her closest DNA Matches that she had on the MyHeritage database . An additional DNA test with close relatives confirmed what she had suspected for a year.

“My biological father is called Marc Folens. His name and identity belong to me. Everyone has only 1 biological father: he is mine. It gives relief to finally be able to name and name him. ” said an emotional Steph.

“I searched and fought for so long, struggling through the maze that I didn't build myself. Today I can say with a certainty of 99.98% I am his biological daughter. My origin is no longer a question, it has become an answer. ”

Steph was 25 years old when she, her triplet brother and sister found out that they were donor children. Until then it had remained a great family secret. Once unveiled, they discovered that they were being processed in the private fertility practice of a certain Robert Schoysman in Berchem-Sainte-Agathe. This doctor also worked in AZ-VUB (now UZ Jette) and Van Helmont hospital (now AZ Jan Portaels).

“After we knew we were donor children, my sister and I immediately started looking. First, the fertility doctor was knocked on but he refused to speak to us. By the way, he also deliberately destroyed my and other parents' files. I courageously went to knock on every door and at official bodies to find out where our real origins lay. Nobody could or would help us. ” she continues.

“For 17 years I searched and asked men whether they might be my biological father. Today that question changes from 'Are you my father?' to 'Did you know my father?' because Marc unfortunately passed away 3 years ago. ”

"The relief of finally knowing is one with a razor-sharp edge because apart from finally knowing, I would have been looking forward to knowing and mirroring him even more so that the hole in my identity and soul can be closed." said Steph.

“I can't bring him back to life, but I hope by publicly sharing my story and appeal that those who knew Marc will contact me. I am curious about good but also less good stories, about photos, audio, films, handwriting and even works of art by Marc. If you have any crumbs of his existence to give, feel free to contact me at stephke.r @ telenet.be or my blog . ”She concludes.

Marc Folens

Steph is the last of the 6 board members of the Donor Detectives who have managed to locate her unknown biological family since its founding in May 2017. Donor Detectives is an organization that helps people and shows them the way so that fundamental questions can be answered.

Are you also looking for relatives or would you like to help shorten someone's search considerably? Consider registering with an international DNA database such as MyHeritage .

In addition to DNA testing, M yHeritage also offers a platform to develop family trees and exchange information. Locating points of contact between the family trees of your DNA Matches makes it possible to find or verify your ancestry.