Integrating donor conception into identity development: adolescents in fatherless families

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

doi:10.1016/j.fertnstert.2016.02.033

Cited by 47 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…As in past research (Slutsky et al, ), our findings suggest that an individual's attachment style is related to one's curiosity about donor conception. Although the results of Slutsky and colleagues show a general trend for attachment security and curiosity (contrary to ours), their correlation between insecure‐preoccupied attachment and curiosity was in the positive direction.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

“…The goal of the current study was two‐fold: We sought to examine whether individual differences in attachment relate to (a) self‐reported curiosity about one's donor conception and (b) a person's choice to find or contact their donor. In accordance with previous research (Slutsky et al, ), we hypothesize that individual differences in attachment will predict whether DC people report curiosity about donor conception and elect to find/contact their donor. More specifically, those who are secure in their parental relationships (and close relationships in general) should have greater comfort approaching the donor and integrating donor conception into their lives.…”

Section: This Studysupporting

confidence: 80%

“…To avoid confusion with avoidant attachment, the “Avoidance” subscale of the DCIQ will be referred to as “Disengagement” throughout the article. The authors, Slutsky et al () state that the Avoidance subscale reflects a sense of disengagement from the topic of donor conception and negative feelings, such as anger and anxiety.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Attachment in donor‐conceived adults: Curiosity, search, and contact

Lozano

Fraley

Kramer³

2019

Personal Relationships

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Donor‐conceived (DC) people represent a unique population with atypical family structures. This study examined whether individual differences in attachment predict adults' self‐reported curiosity about their donor conception identity, as well as attempts to find the donor and establish contact. Data were collected from 488 DC people from the Donor Sibling Registry (DSR). People who were high in attachment‐related anxiety were more curious than others about their donor conception. Despite this curiosity, however, highly anxious people were more disengaged from donor conception and were not more likely than others to search for or have made contact with their donor. These findings suggest that insecure attachment—particularly attachment anxiety—may contribute to people's willingness to incorporate donor conception into their identities.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

Section: This Studysupporting

confidence: 80%

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Attachment in donor‐conceived adults: Curiosity, search, and contact

Lozano

Fraley

Kramer³

2019

Personal Relationships

Self Cite

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“…The FFI has been shown to have good interrater reliability and construct validity (Kriss et al ., 2012) and has been used successfully with both adopted and donor-conceived samples (Stievenart et al ., 2012; Slutsky et al ., 2016). …”

Section: Methodsmentioning

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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“…However, children in lesbian families seem no more exposed to bullying compared to other children (Vanfraussen et al, 2002). Another explored issue has been images of and curiosity about anonymous sperm donors (Goldberg and Allen, 2013;Slutsky et al, 2016;Zadeh et al, 2018). It has been shown that offspring tend to hold far more negative attitudes than their parents toward anonymous gamete donation (Skoog Svanberg et al, 2019).…”

Section: Offspring In Lesbian Familiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life Finds a Way: Young Adults With Lesbian Mothers Reflect on Their Childhood Prior to Legal Recognition of Same-Sex Parents in Sweden

2020

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The strapline "life finds a way," from the classic movie Jurassic Park, referred to how the all-female dinosaurs in a theme park had been able to reproduce, despite the laws of nature. Similarly, the participants in the present study described how their lesbian mothers had shown that "life finds a way," when having children and forming a family, prior to the legal recognition of same-sex parents in Sweden. The study draws on interviews with eight young Swedish adults, aged 17-30 (average age 25). They had been raised by lesbian couples but were born prior to the legal recognition of same-sex parenthood. Prior to a legal change in 2003, a same-sex couple could not share legal parenthood. Further, female couples were excluded from Swedish assisted reproduction programs until 2005. The interviews have been analyzed thematically, and the article presents the results in four themes. The first theme, circumvent, oppose, or adapt to legal obstacles, shows the participants' reflections on how their parents navigated legal obstacles in order to have children and to live together as a family. The second theme, legal obstacles do not affect everyday life, depicts a common experience of how a lack of legal recognition seldom mattered to the participants during their childhood. Rather, they explained how their parents had been able to form parenthood and close relations without legal recognition. In contrast, the third theme describes occasions when legal parenthood matters. This theme highlights occasions when the lack of legal parenthood was problematic or devastating for the participants, such as when parents divorced, or one parent died. The final theme, the meaning of legal parents in adulthood, explores the participants' reflections on the meaning and impact of legal ties (or lack of legal ties) between themselves as young adults and their parents. The findings are discussed in relation to previous research on children and young adults with same-sex parents.

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Integrating donor conception into identity development: adolescents in fatherless families

Cited by 47 publications

References 32 publications

Attachment in donor‐conceived adults: Curiosity, search, and contact

Attachment in donor‐conceived adults: Curiosity, search, and contact

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

Life Finds a Way: Young Adults With Lesbian Mothers Reflect on Their Childhood Prior to Legal Recognition of Same-Sex Parents in Sweden

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