A Georgia hairstylist went viral after sharing a screenshot of a text message exchange between her and a young woman who may have been conceived using one of her donated eggs. The hairstylist said she had donated her eggs nearly two decades ago and had no interest in pursuing a relationship with the young woman, who reached out hoping to build one.
While many netizens understood why she did not want a relationship, they felt her response in the text was too “harsh” and “insensitive.”
The woman, now 37, said she donated her eggs when she was around 19 or 20 years old. She said she became upset when the young woman recently contacted her asking to take a DNA test to confirm whether they were related.
“I sold my eggs, I signed my rights away, I got my check, and I went on about my life. Why the [expletive] are you contacting me right now? I’m so confused. Because I’m not your mom,” the woman said in the video, calling the message “pretty creepy.”
In the texts, the young woman wrote that she felt “empty and disconnected” from the woman she knows as her mother. She said she saw more resemblance between herself and the egg donor and wondered whether she would be willing to get to know her.
In response, the hairstylist wrote, “I’m going to be very direct with you. This is a major breach of privacy. Egg donation is a confidential, anonymous business transaction. I signed my parental rights away 19 years ago. I am not your mother.”
She added that she had no “desire to build a relationship with a stranger” and that she did not want to be contacted again.
The woman also revealed in the comments that she had a daughter of her own and found it disrespectful that the young woman referred to herself as her daughter.
Netizens React to the Georgia Woman’s Response
The video has received more than 700,000 views on TikTok. In the comments, some people criticized the woman for how she handled the situation. “That was incredibly tactless and unkind,” one person wrote. Another commented, “You’re her biological MOM. I think your response was insensitive.” A third said, “This girl is literally going to need therapy after that message. I feel so bad. That was unnecessarily harsh.” Someone else pointed out, “She is literally your DNA relative, you are her connection to her DNA relatives….she could have wanted to know health history or Family history.”
Others criticized her decision to post the exchange online. “I think you’re weird for posting this when she may not fully understand the process. And shaming her on the internet,” one comment read. Another added, “After reading your response, I think she dodged a bullet. I hope her and her current mother find a way to fill that disconnection she feels and she forgets this painful experience ever happened.”
At the same time, some people felt the backlash was unwarranted. “She’s not a mother to this person, she’s an egg donor. Yes they share biology, but this is not a child she grew and created,” one commenter argued. Another wrote, “No, She should not have contacted you. Egg donation is not like adoption at all. I would be pissed.” A third added, “The response is valid. She was wrong for reaching out. I’d sue the clinic that she came from.”
After reading through the comments, the Georgia woman later admitted in another video she may have reacted out of shock. She said she reached back out to the young woman to say she was now open to having a conversation with her, though she made clear that she was not looking to take on the role of her mother.
