Being Donor-Conceived & Normalizing Nontraditional Families | Fran Tusso | TEDxYouth@UrsulineAcademy

In her talk, Fran Tusso discusses what it’s like to grow up donor-conceived. She provides insights on having forty-five half-siblings across the country. She wishes to share with the TEDx audience what it’s like to have such an interesting family dynamic and how they can help make others feel comfortable, regardless of theirs. -- Fran lives in Wilmington, Delaware, and is a freshman at Ursuline Academy. She participates in Mental Health Advocacy and Spectrum at school; Queer Teens of Delaware outside of school; and regularly volunteers at Woodlawn Library and Faithful Friends Animal Shelter in her free time. At the age of ten, she learned that she was conceived with a sperm donor. Constantly interested by her “unknown” family, she began talking to some of her forty-five half-brothers and half-sisters as well as her biological father at the age of twelve. Fran has made close connections with many of her cryo-siblings since. She’s eager to share with TEDx fans and her Ursuline family her journey of learning about her conception and siblings and how it affected her personal life. She wants nontraditional families like hers to be normalized in today’s society. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx