Research
DONOR SIBLING REGISTRY/THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE, UK. RESEARCH COLLABORATION
NEW!!! October 2008, paper approved for publication in Human Reproduction:
Gamete Donation: Parents’ Experiences of Searching for their Child’s Donor Siblings and Donor
Tabitha Freeman, Vasanti Jadva, Wendy Kramer, and Susan Golombok
NEW!!!! We will be presenting the following two papers at the Fertility Society of Australia Conference on October 20, 2008!
Sperm and Egg Donors' Experiences of Donating and of Being Contacted by Their Donor Offspring
Tabitha FREEMAN1, Vasanti JADVA1, Wendy KRAMER2, Susan GOLOMBOK1
1 Centre for Family Research, University of Cambridge, UK, 2 Donor Sibling Registry, USA
Abstract
Aim:
This study presents data on the donation experiences of a large sample of sperm and egg donors and is the first to include donors who have been contacted by children conceived using their gametes.
Method:
Online questionnaires were completed by 63 sperm donors and 11 egg donors recruited via the Donor Sibling Registry; a US-based international registry that facilitates contact between donor conception offspring and their donors.
Results:
Donors' main reasons for donating were financial payment and wanting to help others. The age of first donation ranged from 14-42 (mean=26). Although the majority (91%) felt very happy or content about having donated and were comfortable discussing this with others, several concerns were raised. In particular, 30% were concerned about the wellbeing of any children conceived using their gametes and 27% were concerned about not being able to make contact with them. 71% felt it was important to know how many offspring were conceived using their donation, and half wanted identifying information. 31% of donors had been in contact with their offspring, all of whom reported positive experiences.
Conclusion:
The donors in this sample had positive experiences of donating and wished to know about any children conceived using their gametes. Whilst the sample may not be representative of all donors, this study highlights the importance of donors having access to information about their donor offspring and the positive consequences that may arise when contact is made.
Offspring Searching for Their ‘Donor Siblings’ and Donors: Motivations and Experiences
Vasanti JADVA1, Tabitha FREEMAN1, Wendy KRAMER2, Susan GOLOMBOK1
1 Centre for Family Research, University of Cambridge, UK, 2 Donor Sibling Registry,USA
Abstract
Aim:
This study investigates the new phenomenon of individuals conceived using donor insemination searching for and contacting their donor and/or 'donor siblings' (i.e. donor offspring conceived by the same donor).
Method:
On-line questionnaires were completed by members of the Donor Sibling Registry (DSR); a US based worldwide registry that facilitates contact between donor conception families who share the same donor.
Results:
165 donor offspring aged from 13 to 61 (mean = 22) completed the survey. 92% were searching for either their donor siblings or their donor. Whilst overall, the most common main reason for searching for donor relations was curiosity, significant differences were found between adult (aged over 18) and adolescent (aged 13-18) offspring. Adult offspring were more likely to state medical reasons and reasons relating to gaining a better sense of identity and family history, whilst adolescent offspring were curious about similarities with their donor siblings and donors. Some offspring had discovered large numbers of siblings (maximum = 13). The large majority of offspring who had found their donor siblings or their donor reported positive experiences of making contact.
Conclusion:
Donor offspring are searching for and contacting their donor relations. When these relationships are formed, they largely lead to positive experiences. These findings have wider implications because, with the removal of donor anonymity in many places (including the UK and the Australian State of Victoria), it is likely that an increasing number of donor offspring will seek to contact their donor relations in the future.
Age of disclosure and donor offspring’s feelings about finding out they were donor conceived Research Paper and presentation at the July 2008 ESHRE meeting.
July 2008: Press coverage of the ESHRE presentation:
Tell donor children early in life
By Caroline Parkinson
Health reporter, BBC News, Barcelona
Children conceived using sperm donors should be told of their origins at an early age, research suggests.
A Cambridge University team talked to 165 children conceived this way, and found those not told until the age of 18 often felt shock and anger.
But a European reproductive health conference was warned once children know, they may want to seek out their biological parent.
A UK patient group urged parents to be open from children from the start.
Learning of my biological identity at 17 years of age was a traumatic event
Woman conceived using donor sperm
The study is one of the first to compare the views of the offspring of donor insemination told of their origins during childhood with those who only found out in adulthood.
The offspring, aged 13 to 61, were all on the US Donor Sibling Registry, which helps offspring search for their biological parent and any siblings.
The majority live in the US, with 2% living in the UK.
They were all asked to fill out an online questionnaire.
Assimilation
The results showed around 60% of children being brought up in single parent or same-sex parent families were told about their origins before the age of three, compared with just 9% of children of heterosexual parents.
A third of children of children in heterosexual parents only told their children after they turned 18.
Donor offspring who were told after the age of three were asked how they felt when they discovered how they were conceived, with those who were younger excluded as they would have been too young to recall their response.
The earlier someone was told, the better, the study found.
Over two thirds of those told when they were over 18 reported feeling confused, compared to a third of those told when they were aged four to 11.
Similar differences were seen in the numbers who reported feeling betrayed or anger at being lied to, shock and numbness.
A woman aged 30, who found out how she was conceived in her late teens said: "I would have appreciated revelation of this information much earlier in my life.
"Learning of my biological identity at 17 years of age was a traumatic event."
However, a 13-year-old who found out aged four said: "I was so young I don't remember feeling much more than interested and curious."
Dr Vasanti Jadva, of the Centre for Family Research at the University of Cambridge, who led the work, said: "It appears it is better for children to be told about their donor conception at an early age.
"This finding is in line with research on adoption, which also shows that children benefit from early disclosure about the circumstances of their birth."
But she said it was important to recognise that telling children might trigger curiosity about their biological parent, and they may want to contact them."
Olivia Montuschi, of the UK's Donor Conception Network, said: "We advocate openness from the beginning, from before a child reaches five.
"We even encourage talking to babies about how they were conceived, not because they will understand, but so that parents can practice talking about the issue and get used to the language they want to use."
She added: "If parents do it this way, there is no big revelation. It just becomes one of the things a child knows about itself."
Details were presented to the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology conference in Barcelona.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/7493073.stm
Published: 2008/07/07 10:30:06 GMT
May 2008: We will be presenting a paper at the ESHRE annual meeting in July (European Society for Human Reproduction & Embryology) :
Age of Disclosure and Donor Offspring’s Feelings about Finding Out They were Donor Conceived.
Jadva, V., Freeman, T., Kramer, W. and Golombok, S.
This study presents findings from a large sample of donor offspring who are aware of the nature of their conception. Importantly, this is one of the first studies to compare the views of offspring told of their origins during childhood to those who found out during adulthood. The sample was recruited from the Donor Sibling Registry (DSR): a US-based worldwide registry that helps donor conceived individuals search for and contact their donor and donor siblings (i.e. half siblings).
Conclusions- Age of disclosure is important in determining donor offspring’s feelings about their donor conception. It appears it is better for children to be told about their donor conception at an early age. This finding is in line with research on adoption which also shows that children benefit from early disclosure about the circumstances of their birth.
February 2008: We have completed collecting questionnaires for the Phase 1 of the Donor Sibling Research. Thanks so much to the more than 1200 donors, parents and donor conceived that participated.
We are very excited about this research because it is a groundbreaking and pioneering investigation of what it means for people born of donor conception to search for (and perhaps find) family members with whom they have had no previous contact.
October 2007: We have recently presented a poster of the first (very preliminary) findings of the research at the ASRM meeting in Washington DC. Given the limited space, we did our best to squeeze in as much information as possible. As we continue to review the data, we look forward to writing and publishing several papers.
Cambridge poster from 2007 ASRM meeting (PDF)
Resulting academic papers will be posted in 2008-2009.
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