Born From the Same Stranger is a four-part docuseries from the award-winning team at Wall to Wall Media, the people behind ITV's Long Lost Family.
Narrated by Davina McCall, Born From the Same Stranger tells the incredible stories of people born conceived via sperm donation as they try to unravel the mysteries of their identities by either tracking down anonymous donors or potential brothers and sisters.
This four-part series allows viewers to follow along with searchers, pursuing clues as they crop up, with an online team of experts on hand to advise and encourage them throughout their journey
Ahead of its release, ITV promised Born From the Same Stranger would 'uncover intimate stories on a cinematic scale', capturing donor-conceived people as they're united with their new-found relatives.
In the final episode, we met Amanda, who had put off the search for her donor because she was worried about the impact her search would have on her family. We also met Adam, whose parents spoke about why they were told to keep sperm donation a secret, but who were nevertheless supportive of Adam's search for answers. Here's what you need to know about Born From the Same Stranger...
Born From the Same Stranger: How to watch and release date
Born From the Same Stranger started airing at 9 pm on Monday, January 22 on ITV1, with new episodes set to air in the same slot on a weekly basis.
All four episodes have now aired, but you can stream them all on ITVX. If you're looking for more top shows on the platform, don't forget to check out our guide to the best ITV dramas we think you should be streaming right now, too.
What kinds of stories do we see in Born From the Same Stranger?
ITV teased what kinds of stories we could expect to see ahead of the show's premiere. In Born From the Same Stranger, we meet a woman whose donor's sperm was delivered across the world in her grandparents' hand luggage, and a man who discovers he's one of 14 siblings and counting!
The first episode introduced the context of donor conception and the potential ethical dilemmas raised by searching for donors and/or donor-conceived siblings. In the episode, we meet Liam Renouf who was born to a single mother on the island of Jersey back in 1995. We also meet Sarah Smith, a woman who only discovered she was donor-conceived recently, and that her dad was not her biological father until he passed away.
Is there a Born From the Same Stranger trailer?
ITV released the Born From the Same Stranger trailer just a few days ahead of the show's release. In it, we hear from some of the subjects born from donors who are embarking on the search for more information about their identities. Check it out below:
What else is there to know about Born From the Same Stranger?
The series was originally announced in 2023, as ITVX's first Factual format commission.
At the time, ITV Controller of Factual Jo Clinton-Davis said: "For many people born to anonymous donors, finding out the hidden stories of where they come from and who their blood relations are is a deep and long-held desire. And as this series will show, their stories are moving, astonishing and reveal much about the human condition.
"With their experience making Long Lost Family, Wall To Wall are the perfect team to produce this first Factual format for ITVX, which could not be more timely coming at a moment when new laws open up the prospect for many more donor-born people to find out more about their identities.”
The series was being made at the same time as a change was being made to UK law in 2023. It saw donor anonymity disappearing, allowing anyone conceived by donation after 2005 to be able to apply to find out more details about their identity as soon as they turn 18.
At the same time, the show demonstrates how people conceived before that cut-off year are taking the search into their own hands, using tools like accessible DNA tests and social media advice.
