THE mother of a six-year-old York girl has spoken for the first time about the ground-breaking fight to find out about the donor father.

The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was yesterday told by the High Court that the Human Rights Act could be used in discovering more about her father, who donated sperm.

The ruling comes after a two-year fight.

Her mother told the Evening Press today: "She loves the daddy that she has, and he absolutely worships her, and none of this has ever been about wanting to find a replacement for him.

"But she's an inquisitive girl and she asks questions about him. She wants to know what his personality's like, if she's like him, whether he likes football like she does and that sort of thing. I think that is perfectly natural, but I just can't give the answers."

Her mother knows basic facts about the father, including his height and weight, complexion and hair colour, but nothing more.

"There's a more serious side as well," she said. "We would like to know if he has any genetic problems that may have been discovered after she was conceived."

The fact that the girl's father was a sperm donor has never been kept from her.

The court ruling is only the first round in a battle for the right to discover the girl's parentage.

It said that human rights are infringed by a failure by the Department of Health and the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority to provide information.

The girl's mother said: "The legal process has been long and complicated, but we are absolutely delighted with the outcome and we will be contacting the authorities and saying this is what the court has ruled, now will you tell us about the donor?

"We have told our daughter that we still might not find out but, even if we don't, at least we have done something."

Updated: 12:52 Saturday, July 27, 2002