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Telling the story: parents' scripts for donor offspring
Human Reproduction (Oxford, England)
|May 15, 1999
Summary
Parents sharing donor conception details early found children processed information factually. Many parents who hadn't told their children planned to disclose later, citing age and understanding as key factors.
Area of Science:
- Reproductive Medicine
- Psychology
- Family Studies
Background:
- Donor insemination is a method of assisted reproduction.
- Disclosure of donor conception to offspring is a complex issue for families.
- Parental decisions regarding disclosure vary significantly.
Purpose of the Study:
- To document parental experiences with disclosing donor conception to children.
- To understand children's responses to receiving information about donor involvement.
- To explore parental intentions and reasons for disclosure or non-disclosure.
Main Methods:
- Survey of 181 parents who had conceived via donor insemination.
- Analysis of disclosure timing, reasons, and children's responses.
- Comparison of responses between parents who disclosed and those who intended to disclose.
Main Results:
- 30% of parents disclosed donor conception, often when children were young and could understand.
- Younger children processed disclosure factually, asking practical questions.
- 77% of parents who had not disclosed intended to do so in the future, citing child's age and understanding.
- No significant differences were found between mothers' and fathers' responses.
Conclusions:
- Early disclosure of donor conception may facilitate factual, non-emotional processing by children.
- Parental readiness and child's developmental stage influence disclosure timing.
- Ongoing parental intention to disclose suggests a trend towards openness in donor-conceived families.