Families Created by Egg Donation: Parent–Child Relationship Quality in Infancy

Abstract

Increasing numbers of children are being born through egg donation and thus do not share a genetic relationship with their mother. Parent-infant relationship quality was examined in 85 egg donation families and a comparison group of 65 in vitro fertilization families (infant M = 11 months). Standardized interview and observational measures were used to assess mother-infant and father-infant relationship quality at the representational and behavioral levels. Few differences were found between family types in parents' representations of the parent-infant relationship. Differences were found between family types in the observational assessment of mother-infant relationship quality, indicating less optimal interactions in egg donation families. Findings suggest that egg donation families function well in infancy overall, but there may be subtle yet meaningful differences in mother-infant interaction quality.

Impact of New Family Forms on Parenting and Child Development

“…3 In identity-release donation, the child has the right to access identifying information about the donor at age 18. Concerns have been raised that identity-release donation may pose more of a challenge to family functioning than anonymous donation, as it provides less explicit boundaries between the donor and recipient families and may be perceived as threatening by parents (Imrie et al 2019a).…”

“…A study comparing identity-release egg donation families with infants with an IVF comparison group found that egg donation parents showed more similarities than differences to IVF parents on measures of parent-infant relationship quality, although subtle, yet significant, differences were found between egg donation and IVF mothers and infants in interaction quality, indicating less optimal interactions in egg donation families (Imrie et al 2019a). Egg donation parents' scores on measures of psychological well-being were within the normal range (Imrie et al 2019b).…”

Transition to motherhood after egg donation and natural conception

“…In one of them ED mothers seem to be psychologically well adjusted [7] while in the other one, some differences can be descried. More specifically, a lower level of interaction between mother and child, lower confidence in parenting, and less sensitivity have been noticed in ED in contrast to IVF mothers [17].…”

A transição para parentalidade de um casal heterossexual que recorreu à ovodoação

“…No entanto, alguns aspectos singulares como os cuidados exacerbados de Elvira com os filhos na busca do seu reconhecimento como mãe por ela própria e o sofrimento ocasionado pelas pessoas ao ser lembrada que ela não tinha vínculo genético com seus filhos podem ser mencionados como particulares desse contexto. Esse dado está de acordo com a literatura sobre as inseguranças das mães sobre o seu próprio lugar quando não há o vínculo genético com o filho (Imrie et al, 2019Imrie et al, 2020. Além disso, a trajetória do casal ao longo da parentalidade foi marcada por intensas dificuldades e questionamentos que revelaram, de maneira inconsciente, a ambiguidade do "valeu a pena tudo" relacionado ao processo de ovodoação e de fertilização na trajetória da realização do desejo de se tornarem pais.…”