Adolescents Conceived through Donor Insemination in Mother‐Headed Families: A Qualitative Study of Motivations and Experiences of Contacting and Meeting Same‐donor Offspring

Persaud, Sherina; Freeman, Tabitha; Jadva, Vasanti; Slutsky, Jenna; Kramer, Wendy; Steele, Miriam; Steele, Howard; Golombok, Susan

doi:10.1111/chso.12158

Cited by 22 publications

(15 citation statements)

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“…In terms of adolescents’ thoughts and feelings about the surrogate or donor, as in previous research on donor-conceived samples ( Vanfraussen et al , 2003 ; Scheib et al , 2005 ; Jadva et al , 2009 ; Rodino et al , 2011 ; Slutsky et al , 2016 ; Persaud et al , 2017 ), many of the adolescents who were not in contact with the surrogate or donor expressed an interest in them. In a previous study of adolescents conceived by donor insemination to single women and lesbian couples, mother–child relationship quality was found to impact upon adolescents’ curiosity about the donor, such that adolescents who were securely attached to their mothers were more interested in exploring their donor conception than were those who were insecurely attached ( Slutsky et al , 2016 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

“…Adolescents who were interested in the surrogate or donor mostly wanted to know more about why they had donated or acted as a surrogate, and some had questions about the surrogate or donor’s family, or children conceived using the same surrogate or donor. Previous studies of adolescents born through reproductive donation who use the internet to try to connect with donor relations have shown that adolescents desire to learn more about the donor and other children who share their genetic material in order to better understand themselves ( Jadva et al , 2009 ; Persaud et al , 2017 ). The fact that similar results are found with the present sample of adolescents, recruited systematically to the study when they were aged 1, suggests that feelings of curiosity amongst donor-conceived adolescents are not simply an artefact of sampling donor-conceived offspring who are actively searching for their donor relations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The perspectives of adolescents conceived using surrogacy, egg or sperm donation

et al. 2018

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STUDY QUESTIONWhat are the perspectives of adolescents conceived using surrogacy, egg or sperm donation regarding their conception and the third party involved?SUMMARY ANSWERThe majority of adolescents described feeling indifferent about their conception, and yet simultaneously reported an interest in the third party involved, or were in contact with them.WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADYThere is an assumption that children conceived through reproductive donation will feel negatively about their origins in adolescence. However, little is known about the views of adolescents who have been conceived through different types of reproductive donation.STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATIONForty-four adolescents, all of whom had been told about their conception in childhood, participated in a semi-structured interview as part of the sixth phase of a longitudinal, multi-method, multi-informant study of assisted reproduction families in the UK.PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODSAll adolescents were aged 14 years, had been conceived using surrogacy (n = 22), egg donation (n = 13) or sperm donation (n = 9) to heterosexual couples, and varied in terms of their information about, and contact with, the third party involved in their conception. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in participants’ homes. Interviews were analysed qualitatively to determine adolescents’ perceptions of their conception, and their thoughts and feelings about the surrogate or donor involved.MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCEAdolescents were found to feel positive (n = 7), indifferent (n = 32) or ambivalent (n = 5) about their conception. Amongst adolescents not in contact with the surrogate or donor, most were interested (n = 16) in the surrogate or donor, and others were ambivalent (n = 4), or not interested (n = 6) in them. Adolescents in contact with the surrogate or donor expressed positive (n = 14), ambivalent (n = 1) or negative (n = 1) feelings about them.LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTIONOf 56 adolescents invited to take part in the study, 47 consented to take part, giving a response rate of 84%. It was not possible to obtain information from adolescents who do not know about their conception.WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGSThe findings contradict the assumption that children conceived through reproductive donation will feel negatively about their origins in adolescence and suggest that it may be helpful to draw a distinction between adolescents’ feelings about their conception in general, and their feelings about the surrogate or donor in particular.STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S)This study was funded by the Wellcome Trust [097857/Z/11/Z]. The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The perspectives of adolescents conceived using surrogacy, egg or sperm donation

et al. 2018

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“…Is this age selected because parents are waiting for the child to reach adulthood or because they are influenced by identity release practices that enable identifying information to be provided about the donor at age 18 years? That individuals conceived using identity release donors can obtain identifying information about their donor and donor siblings at age 18 years needs further scrutiny given that some donor conceived individuals may desire this information at an earlier age (Persaud et al., 2017 ). However, it may also be relevant that curiosity about donor relationships may be mediated by their relationship with their parents (Slutsky et al., 2016 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Why search for a sperm donor online? The experiences of women searching for and contacting sperm donors on the internet

Jadva

Freeman

Tranfield³

et al. 2017

Human Fertility

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Whilst studies have examined the experiences of women who use clinic donors, to date there has been limited research investigating women’s motivations and experiences of searching for a sperm donor online. A total of 429 women looking for a sperm donor on Pride Angel (a website that facilitates contact between donors and recipients) completed an online survey. Fifty-eight percent (249) saw advantages of obtaining donated sperm online with the most common advantage reported as being able to connect with and meet the donor (n = 50 (24%)). A third (n = 157 (37%)) of the participants gave disadvantages, the most common reported was encountering ‘dishonest donors’ (n = 63 (40%)). Most recipients (n = 181 (61%)) wanted the donor to be ‘just a donor’ (i.e. to provide sperm and have no further contact). Whilst it was important for recipients to know the identity of the donor, some did not see this as important for the child and thus the level of information that parents have about the donor, and that which the child has, can differ. Finding a donor online blurs the distinction between categories of ‘anonymous’, ‘known’ and ‘identity release’ donations. Whilst the survey had a large sample size, the representativeness of the sample is not known.

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“…Differences between adolescents’ thoughts and feelings about the donor in solo mother and opposite-sex two-parent families have primarily been explained in terms of either father absence ( Beeson et al ., 2011 ), or the age at which children are told about donor conception ( Jadva et al ., 2009 ). However, most studies of adolescents in solo mother families have relied upon questionnaire methods, and have either recruited participants via online forums for those interested in making connections with the donor or children conceived using the same donor ( Jadva et al ., 2009 , 2010 ; Beeson et al ., 2011 ; Persaud et al ., 2016 ), or studied adolescents whose donors are identifiable ( Scheib et al ., 2005 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Children's thoughts and feelings about their donor and security of attachment to their solo mothers in middle childhood

et al. 2017

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STUDY QUESTIONWhat is the relationship between children's thoughts and feelings about their donor and their security of attachment to their solo mothers in middle childhood?SUMMARY ANSWERChildren with higher levels of secure–autonomous attachment to their mothers were more likely to have positive perceptions of the donor, and those with higher levels of insecure–disorganized attachment to their mothers were more likely to perceive him negatively.WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADYThere is limited understanding of the factors that contribute to children's thoughts and feelings about their donor in solo mother families. In adolescence, an association was found between adolescents’ curiosity about donor conception and their security of attachment to their mothers.STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION19 children were administered the Friends and Family Interview and Donor Conception Interview between December 2015 and March 2016 as part of the second phase of a longitudinal, multi-method, multi-informant study of solo mother families.PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODSAll children were aged between 7 and 13 years and had been conceived by donor insemination to solo mothers. Interviews were conducted in participants’ homes. The Friends and Family Interview was rated according to a standardized coding scheme designed to measure security of attachment in terms of secure–autonomous, insecure–dismissing, insecure–preoccupied and insecure–disorganized attachment patterns. Quantitative analyses of the Donor Conception Interview yielded two factors: interest in the donor and perceptions of the donor. Qualitative analyses of the Donor Conception Interview were conducted using qualitative content analysis and thematic analysis.MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCEStatistically significant associations were found between the perception of the donor scale and the secure–autonomous and insecure–disorganized attachment ratings. Children with higher levels of secure–autonomous attachment to their mothers were more likely to have positive perceptions of the donor (r = 0.549, P = 0.015), and those with higher levels of insecure–disorganized attachment to their mothers were more likely to perceive him negatively (r = −0.632, P = 0.004). Children's narratives about the donor depicted him as a stranger (n = 8), a biological father (n = 4), a social parent (n = 3), or in ambivalent terms (n = 4).LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTIONFindings are limited by the wide age range of children within a small overall sample size. Participants were those willing and able to take part in research on donor conception families. The statistical significance of correlation coefficients was not corrected for multiple comparisons.WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGSFindings highlight the importance of situating children's ideas about the donor within family contexts. It is recommended that those working with donor conception families consider this when advising parents about whether, what and how to tell children about donor conception.STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S)Th...

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Adolescents Conceived through Donor Insemination in Mother‐Headed Families: A Qualitative Study of Motivations and Experiences of Contacting and Meeting Same‐donor Offspring

Cited by 22 publications

References 19 publications

The perspectives of adolescents conceived using surrogacy, egg or sperm donation

The perspectives of adolescents conceived using surrogacy, egg or sperm donation

Why search for a sperm donor online? The experiences of women searching for and contacting sperm donors on the internet

Children's thoughts and feelings about their donor and security of attachment to their solo mothers in middle childhood

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