A woman who had a child through IVF has tied the knot with her anonymous sperm donor after she tracked him down and fell in love with him.
Aminah Hart, an Australian born in London, only met her fiance after she had given birth to their
daughter Leila.
And now that the romantic story has been sealed with a loving kiss, Aminah's book telling the story is set to be made into a big screen film.
The 45-year-old originally selected Scott Andersen, an Australian cattle farmer who lives on an island off the south coast of Australia, from five possible sperm donors because she liked that he listed himself as “happy and healthy”.
She later discovered his identity through a series of internet searches based on his name as well as his profession as a cattle breeder and his role as a Aussie rules football coach.
Rather than contact him directly, however, she contacted him via the official IVF register.
He was not legally required to meet Leila until she turned 18 but agreed, especially after he received a photo of his baby and saw how much she looked like both him and his four other children from two previous marriages.
They agreed to meet for the first time in Melbourne four days after Leila’s first birthday. Soon after, the pair fell in love and announced their engagement.
The heartwarming “back to front love story” is unlikely, Scott admitted to the Telegraph: “Neither of us expected it to happen. I fell in love with Leila before I fell in love with Aminah.
“It was all odd at the start. But Leila’s beautiful. We arranged to meet once a month. Aminah and I became quite friendly and Leila started calling me Daddy and coming to me all the time.”
Aminah, who works in advertising, said: “It was nervous and we were very tentative, but the rapport was really easy. The first thing for me was, 'phew he’s a nice guy'.”
Aminah previously had two sons from a husband in London and a partner in Australia, but both babies died. She then learned that she was the carrier of a rare genetic disorder which affects sons but not daughters.
At age 42, she decided to try one last time for a healthy baby using IVF.
Scott proposed on proposed on what would have been her late son Louis’ birthday, when he went out to get milk with Leila and came back with an engagement ring.
The wedding itself was described as 'very low key' and took place on the Victoria coast with 130 guests.
Leila, now three, initially told Scott "you can’t marry my mum," but she soon became caught up with being a flower girl.
Aminah got ready with her sister and Leila, while Scott’s new mother in law Helen and three sons - Luke, 22, Jye, 30 and Bailey, 18 - helped him prepare.
"It really felt like the beginning of something incredibly beautiful. You could see the happiness and pure elation in the room."
‘The band knew how to work and audience and got everyone on to the dance floor – even Scott who is not one to dance," she told Daily Mail Australia.
Her own father was a West Indian film extra who met her Australian mother in London shortly after he returned from playing Omar Sharif’s bodyguard in the film Lawrence of Arabia.
The couple split when Aminah was young and she later tried to find him in England, but learned that he died shortly before her arrival.
Amina's book book How I Met Your Father is available from Booktopia.
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