Woman starts relationship with 'anonymous' sperm donor

An Australian woman has become engaged to the sperm donor who fathered her one-year-old daughter.

Aminah Hart first met Scott Anderson just before their daughter Leila's first birthday, after Aminah's mother had spent months tracking him down on the internet.

'[My mother] knew that Scott had said he was cattle breeder and was an amateur football coach,' Aminah explained. 'Mum had dug out a photo from his football club and I said "I really don't know", but she could see a similarity in a six month old baby.'

Aminah had previously lost two babies to a genetic muscle disease called X-linked myotubular myopathy. In 2011, aged 42 and newly single, she decided to try IVF using anonymous sperm donation.

At the fertility clinic, Aminah was given three pieces of paper detailing the age, hair colour, interests and occupation of three anonymous donors. The man that stood out to her described himself as 'happy and healthy', and was already a father of four. He had also indicated that he was happy to meet any conceived children.

Aminah explained that when Leila was born, the perceived contrast between Aminah's West Indian features and Leila's blonde hair and blue eyes intrigued Aminah's mother, Helen Marshall, and sparked her search for Leila's father. After months of online research, Helen became convinced that Scott Anderson was the right man, and persuaded Aminah to give her details to the agency in case he wanted to get in touch. Scott responded and the pair soon began correspondence.

After exchanging numerous emails and photos, Leila and Aminah travelled 140km to meet Scott and two of his children. This led to increasingly regular meet-ups, and Scott and Aminah's friendly relationship eventually turned into a romantic one.

Helen described her daughter's experience as 'a bit of a fairy story'.

Since telling their remarkable story on Australia's ABC news, the couple have reportedly become inundated with offers from the media around the world; a Hollywood production company has even enquired about obtaining film rights.