Psychosocial aspects of identity-release gamete donation – perspectives of donors, recipients, and offspring

Abstract

Donor conception creates families with varying genetic linkage between family members. This may have short-term as well as lifelong psychosocial consequences for all involved. Gamete donors have traditionally been anonymous to recipients and offspring, but there is a growing trend towards identity-release donor programmes that give offspring the right to obtain the donor's identity. This review aims to provide an overview of the perspectives of donors and recipients and offspring involved in identity-release donation. The results show that both oocyte and sperm donors have primarily altruistic motives, and recipients, in particular lesbian and single women, are generally open about the donation to their offspring. The few existing studies on offspring perspectives indicate that those who are aware of their donor conception appear to be interested in contact with the donor, and most donors are open to such contact. Investigations of donors and recipients indicate a need for more counselling and support to manage family life with varying genetic linkage within and outside the family unit. This includes preparing for and managing future contact between the donor and his/her family and donor offspring and their family, as well as between donor siblings and their respective families.

Positioning the donor in a new landscape—mothers’ and fathers’ experiences as their adult children obtained information about the identity-release sperm donor

“…Donor conception creates families with varying genetic links within the family unit, and where the child will have genetic ties to the donor and to individuals who share the same donor. While donor conceived (DC) individuals have been reported to desire information about their donor and same-donor offspring ( Scheib et al , 2005 ; Jadva et al , 2010 ; Beeson et al , 2011 ; Scheib et al , 2017 ; Bos et al , 2019 ; Indekeu et al , 2021 ), studies are often based on self-selected groups that actively searched for such information and it is unknown to which extent these results reflect the views of the whole population of DC individuals ( Zadeh, 2016 ; Skoog Svanberg et al , 2019 ).…”

Unmet support needs in donor sperm treatment: consequences for parents and their donor-children

“…Caution is needed when generalizing the results to families with older donorchildren. Although we do not expect any differences in the relationship between unmet support needs and mental health, parents' needs for support might well change when their children can obtain identifiable information about the donor and uncertainties about the position of the non-genetic parent may be more acutely felt (Wyverkens et al, 2017;Skoog Svanberg et al, 2020). In addition, it is plausible that parents who had a child after DST with sperm from an anonymous donor have other support needs and also have other unmet support needs.…”

Fertility Counseling in Survivors of Cancer in Childhood and Adolescence: Time for a Reappraisal?

“…Egg donation is a further viable option. This clinical option has become socially acceptable, and its use has been spreading in recent years [ 18 ], with public health coverage assured in many countries. Egg donation is unquestionably indicated for women with an exhausted ovarian reserve who did not undergo fertility preservation and for those who did but then failed to produce offspring with their own stored material.…”