First Trimester: Theatre, Intimacy, and the Search for a Sperm Donor at Melbourne Fringe

First Trimester is not your average theatre show. It is part performance, part experiment, part tender interrogation of what it means to build a family as a transgender person. London-based artist Krishna Istha takes the stage with an unusual mission: to seek out the “perfect” sperm donor. We chat to Istha ahead of their Australian premiere at the Melbourne Fringe Festival.

Turning a deeply personal exploration with fertility and trans reproductive healthcare into a performance might sound daunting, but for Istha it came from both curiosity and need. "First and foremost, I’m a problem solver. Most of my shows begin as an attempt to untangle a real problem in my life. My partner and I are both trans and we wanted to find a sperm donor. However, when we looked at sperm banks, the information we got - like eye colour, height, academic achievements - felt meaningless," they tell me. "What we really wanted to know was if they were kind, and if we aligned on bigger things like ethics and morals. I made a passing comment to my partner that it would be great if we could just interview people face-to-face before picking a donor. And that throwaway comment spiralled into this!"

"The second reason was necessity. When we started researching how trans people could go about having a baby, there was a real lack of accessible information, medically, legally, emotionally. We were lucky to lean on the knowledge of friends and family who had been through the process before, but we kept thinking that not everyone has that. What if this show could also act as a resource for other queer and trans people asking the same questions? It was a way to share what we learn with others who may gain from it."

First Trimester has had seasons in London, Copenhagen, Dublin and Auckland, where Istha has been surprised by the openness and kindness of the participants. "The willingness of complete strangers to sit across from me, and sincerely consider being a sperm donor for me and my partner, has blown me away everywhere we’ve toured," they confess. "At a time when the media is flooded with anti-trans sentiment, you start to believe people are against you, yet First Trimester has proven the opposite. We've had hundreds of people showing up with an inquisitive mind, compassion, and a genuine desire to connect, regardless of whether they’d ever met a trans person before."

"It’s been beautiful to notice the cultural differences in how people talk about family. In Ireland, so many participants spoke fondly about their grandmothers. It was adorable, and echoed the matriarchal strength in my own family," they recall. "In Switzerland, I met numerous queer people raising kids in co-ops and communal setups, which felt so particular to that place. Each country has given us these little gems of parenting wisdom, and it’s been a privilege to collect them."

Sharing such an intimate journey, including their fertility struggles, the search for a donor, and experiences as a trans parent, comes with inherent vulnerability and courage, but Istha sees this as more of an exchange of ideas with people. "It’s simply me sitting and talking with people for up to nine hours, which, honestly, I do on my couch most days anyway!" they laugh. "Of course, it’s exposing and extremely revealing, but as someone who makes autobiographical work with the hope that it helps others, I don’t really frame it as “daring.” What feels most powerful about First Trimester is the collective intimacy that unfolds. It’s not just me opening up; every participant who sits with me also offers something authentic, which is what makes the piece electric. Normally in theatre, it’s one-way: me speaking at an audience. Here, it’s reciprocal."

Challenging conventional notions of family, the work establishes an environment where queer and trans experiences take centre stage, celebrating diverse paths to parenthood and highlighting the ongoing fight for LGBTQIA+ recognition and reproductive rights. "Every conversation I've had with this show teaches me an unexpected lesson about parenting. Whether it’s stories about people’s own parents, tips for me and my partner, or insights from other queer and trans parents," Istha says. "First Trimester illustrates that family and parenthood aren’t fixed - they’re expansive, inventive, and culturally specific. The show creates a space where the definition of parenthood stretches beyond biology, beyond tradition, into an experience that is more open, joyous, and shared."

"A huge motivation for making this was to increase the visibility of trans and queer families, and to demystify how LGBTQIA+ people can go about becoming parents if they want to. Trans people have always been parents (and birthing parents) yet that reality is often erased. During this period where LGBTQIA+ rights are under attack, and anti-trans sentiment grows louder every day, we wanted to make something that demonstrates, very plainly: it’s possible, it’s happening, and it’s joyful."

FRINGE FIVE FAST ONES

1. A song I could listen to on repeat forever is Vacation by Priya Ragu.
2. One object I can’t live without backstage is tic tacs!
3. My favourite word is ughhh, because I love to sigh.
4. Something unexpected that brings me joy is reality TV (don’t tell anyone!)
5. If I could live one day as someone else, it would be Reza Abdoh (Iranian Director and Playwright)

SHOW DETAILS

Venue: Arts House, North Melbourne Town Hall, 521 Queensberry St, North Melbourne
Season: 16 - 18 October | Thurs - Fri 7pm, Sat 1pm, 3pm and 6pm
Duration: 120 minutes
Tickets: $40 - $60 Full | $25 Conc
Bookings: Melbourne Fringe Festival

Image credits: Jordan Rossi and Emily Drake