Experiences of insemination fraud: discovering and navigating unexpected and entangled connections

The increasing use of direct-to-consumer genetic testing revealed not only more, but also different types of insemination fraud worldwide, making research into the topic urgently needed. This study explores how donor-conceived people and parents experience insemination fraud and their need for and perception of psychosocial support. We conducted a qualitative interview study with 19 participants affected by insemination fraud from the Netherlands and Belgium. Insemination fraud occurs when the doctor uses a different sperm sample for insemination than the (prospective) parents consented to. The study includes eight different cases of insemination fraud. Participants experienced important challenges in fundamental aspects of life, related to reorganizing their identity, changing their family-conception story, navigating dualities regarding the donor, and coping with breaches of trust. Participants described the complex emotional processes they faced and how insemination fraud affected multiple relationships, revealing deeply entangled relational processes. These processes were complicated and/or facilitated by (non-)disclosure of donor conception by parents, type of insemination fraud, presence of heritable disease, the donor/doctor being alive or deceased, the clinic's reaction, and the reaction of the donor's legal family. Participants described short-term and long-term implications and needs for (peer) support. The article concludes with recommendations for clinical practice and policy.