Unmet support needs in donor sperm treatment: consequences for parents and their donor-children

Abstract

Research Question: Are unmet needs for psychosocial counselling, peer support and friends/family support in parents directly and/or indirectly related to mental health of parents and their donor-children? Design: A cross-sectional sample of 214 parents participated in this quantitative study via an online questionnaire. The sample comprised mothers and fathers in a heterosexual relationship (n = 85), mothers in a lesbian relationship (n = 67) and single mothers (n = 62).Parents were recruited via three Dutch fertility clinics and four network organizations. We measured unmet support needs with an adapted version of the Questionnaire Unmet Needs for Parenting Support and changed the original items into items about donor conception. The items were derived from a qualitative study and checked by experts in the field of donor conception. We measured mental health of parents with the Adult Self Report and mental health of donor-children with the Child Behaviour Checklist. We conducted a multigroup mediation analysis to explore the relations between unmet support needs of parents and mental health of their child, with mental health of parents as a possible mediator.Results: There were no direct relations between parents' unmet support needs and the mental health of donor-children. Unmet needs for psychosocial counselling, peer support and friends/family support of parents and children's' mental health were indirectly related through the mental health of parents, respectively .074 (CI 95% = .013, .136), .085 (CI 95% = .018, .151) and .063 (CI 95% = .019, .106). Conclusion:We recommend that fertility clinics, network organizations and authorities for infertility counsellors make their support available to parents for extended periods after their treatment. Further qualitative studies are necessary to assess how to relieve unmet support needs in donor sperm treatment.