Open-Identity Sperm Donation: How Does Offering Donor-Identifying Information Relate to Donor-Conceived Offspring’s Wishes and Needs?

Abstract

Over the past years, a growing number of countries have legislated open-identity donation, in which donor-conceived offspring are given access to the donor's identity once the child has reached maturity. It is held that donor anonymity creates identity problems for such children similar to the "genealogical bewilderment" described within the adoption context. The study of the social and psychological effects of open-identity donation is still very much in its infancy, but what has been left unquestioned is whether (and to what extent) offering access to the donor's name and address is an adequate response to such effects. This study has two goals: First, we aim to provide a systematic review of the reasons why donor-conceived (DC) offspring want to know the identity of their sperm donor. Second, we examine to what extent the provision of donoridentifying information can satisfy the reasons mentioned. The most important motivations appear to be: (1) to avoid medical risks and consanguineous relationships; (2) to satisfy curiosity; (3) to learn more about the self or to complete one's identity; (4) to learn more about what kind of person the donor is (biographical information, why he donated, etc.); (5) to form a relationship with the donor and/or his family; and (6) to learn about one's ancestry/genealogy. Our analysis shows that for nearly all of these reasons access to the donor's identity is not necessary. In those cases where it is, moreover, donor identification is not sufficient. What is really needed is (extended) contact with the donor, rather than the mere provision of his name.

Self-esteem and problem behavior in Dutch adolescents conceived through sperm donation in planned lesbian parent families

“…Those who declined to participate may have been experiencing more psychological difficulties, thereby affecting our results. Finally, before 2004, some Dutch clinics provided a "donor passport" containing information about the donor's personality traits, talents, and interests (Winter et al, 2012), which may have satisfied the curiosity of their offspring (Ravelingien, Provoost, & Pennings, 2015). Adolescents in this study were not asked whether they had such a passport, thus precluding comparisons based on information received from the sperm bank.…”

‘We’re not related in any way, only by blood’: Danish sperm donors and (imagined) relationships

“…Much of the prior substantive work in this area has been from the perspective of recipient families of donor sperm (Nordqvist, 2010, Ravelingien et al, 2015, Freeman et al, 2009), although others have written in depth about donors and kinship. Mohr (2015: 171) has conducted one of the few existing studies on Danish donors.…”

Who requests their sperm donor's identity? The first ten years of information releases to adults with open-identity donors

“…They want to know what he is like, what he looks like, whether he shares characteristics with them, and his medical history (e.g., Refs. [15][16][17][18][19]). Other DI persons are interested not only in the donor, but also in individuals who share their donor (19)(20)(21)(22)(23).…”