What would you do if you found out you have 15 half-siblings you’ve never met? If you’re 17-year-old Breeanna Speicher you set out to try to meet them all — oh, and you bring the MTV cameras along to document the entire thing for a brand new reality series called Generation Cryo!
The network announced the new series at their TCA presentation back in July and earlier today released the first preview trailer, which introduces viewers to Breeanna and (very briefly) nine of her fifteen half-siblings:
“My story starts with my two moms,” Breeanna (who looks to go by “Bree”) says near the beginning of the clip. “They wanted a kid, and neither one of them had a penis. So, they had to order sperm from a cryo bank. Years later, I found this website. You can enter your donor’s ID number and find out if he had other kids. And BOOM! I found out that I had 15 other siblings! Crazy!” She then adds, “I’m on a mission to get to know each one.” And there you have an amazing reality show concept!
Bree reveals, “My dream fantasy with my half-siblings is to go find our donor,” and judging from the trailer it appears that Bree’s quest stirs up quite a bit of drama in the lives of those half-siblings with stable families, including a dad.
Bree kicks off the preview and ends it with diary entries intended to be viewed eventually (she hopes) by her biological father. “OK, this is the first video of my video diary, and it’s all for you, my sperm donor,” she says. “It’s this incredible mystery, and all of my siblings are a different piece of the puzzle. And, if I solve it, and it leads me to you, then it was all meant to be.”
Generation Cryo premieres Monday, November 25 at 10/9c on MTV.
Here is the official press release, that includes som brief bios for some of Bree’s half-siblings:
MTV SET TO AIR GROUNDBREAKING DOCU-SERIES “GENERATION CRYO” ON MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25 AT 10:00 P.M. ET/PT
Follow the Remarkable Journey of 17-Year-Old Breeanna Who Discovers 15 Half Brothers and Sisters on Her Quest to Find the Donor — the Biggest Mystery of Her Life
New York, NY (October 15, 2013) – MTV today announced that it will premiere the compelling docu-series “Generation Cryo,” which explores families and the issues faced by a new generation of young people conceived via anonymous sperm donation, on Monday, November 25 at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT. The series documents the journey of 17-year-old Breeanna who recently learned that she has at least 15 half-siblings fathered by the same anonymous donor, #1096. What follows is a six-episode, one-hour series that re-defines what it means to be a Modern Family.
^ Breeanna’s birth mom Debra Speicher (left) and other mom Sherry Shreves
Hoping to find out more about her family history, Bree visited the Donor Sibling Registry, a website dedicated to connecting sperm donor families. Armed with this newly obtained information, Bree sets out to meet her half-brothers and sisters and encourages them to help her find out more about their donor. Realizing that they are more similar than any of them could have imagined, Bree immediately connects with her siblings who accept her unconditionally. Along the way, what starts off as a meeting of strangers becomes an intense and emotional bonding of family.
Sibling Bios:
Breeanna, 17
For most of her childhood, Breeanna hid the fact that she was sperm donor-conceived. After her two moms, Sherry and Debra, split up when Bree was three-years-old, her biological mom, Debra, started dating men again. Bree then bounced between both homes and is currently living with her non-biological mom, Sherry.
Like most teenagers her age, Bree is attempting to find out who she is. But unlike most kids, Bree’s just discovered that she has 15 half-siblings all over the country. Now Bree wants to meet as many of her half-brothers and sisters as she can and hopefully gain their help to solve the biggest mystery of their lives – who is their sperm donor.
Jonah, 17 and Hilit, 17
Raised in a Jewish household with their parents, Terri and Eric, in a suburb of Atlanta, Hilit and Jonah (seen above) have already met many of their half-siblings and are excited to add Bree into their family. However, as far as the sperm donor goes, they’ve never considered looking for him. To Jonah and Hilit, their “real dad” is theman who raised them and it’s going to take plenty of convincing if Bree hopes to gain their support in her journey.
Jayme, 18 and Jesse, 18
Jayme and Jesse were raised by their single mom, Janis. Not having had a father figure in their lives growing up, both have always been curious about their “donor dad.” Janis is also interested in knowing who the donor is and even attempted to go through the Cryobank in hopes of reaching out to the donor, but was told that only offspring who are 18 years of age can submit a request for contact. Now that Jayme and Jesse are 18, they’re ready to submit a request of their own, but are warned that they should temper their expectations of ever hearing from the donor.
Paige, 20 Molly, 20 and Will, 18
Paige, Molly and Will grew up with their mom, Laura and dad, Perry, who are now divorced. Despite their parents’ split, they’re still close to their father and are deeply conflicted about knowing much about the donor.
Twins Paige and Molly are the oldest of all the half-siblings and feel they have a responsibility to protect the younger ones. Even though they don’t want to find the donor themselves, they are willing to help mentor Bree as she searches for him.
Jesse, 18
Jesse grew up with his mom, Laurie and dad, Jim. The couple believed Jim was infertile and used donor sperm to conceive Jesse. It turns out, however, that Jim wasn’t infertile and three years later, he and Laurie had a daughter Emily through natural conception.
Jesse isn’t fully comfortable with being a sperm donor child and doesn’t like being labeled as one. He was hesitant to meet his half-siblings earlier in his life and his desire to ignore the subject of where he came from puts a strain on his relationship with his family. After meeting up with Jesse, it becomes Bree’s mission to help him come to terms with being donor-conceived.
Viewers can go to MTV.com for sneak peeks of the show including bonus and extended scenes, plus exclusive interviews. For even more information and exclusive content, fans can “like” the “Generation Cryo” Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/GenerationCryo.
“Generation Cryo” will also air on MTV’s international channels beginning in March 2014.
“Generation Cryo” is produced by Off the Fence for MTV with OTF’s Michael Lang and Ellen Windemuth serving as Executive Producers. Marshall Eisen, Nomi Ernst Leidner, Betsy Forhan and Dave Sirulnick are Executive Producers for MTV. Rob Schwarze and Dave Wadsworth are Supervising Producers for OTF. Jonathan Mussman is Executive in Charge, MTV. Wendy Kramer is the Associate Producer and the Founder and Director of the Donor Sibling Registry.
