Family building in donor conception: parents' experiences of sharing information

This paper presents the findings of a qualitative investigation of the experience of
parents in the UK who have built their families through donor conception and have
told their children about their origins. Key themes identified in the study include
parental motivation for disclosure, the relationship between telling the child and
telling others, the importance of the ‘seed-planting’ strategy for telling children,
and ‘ownership’ of information about the child’s conception. The paper concludes
by discussing the implications of the research findings for encouraging parental
disclosure of donor conception as advocated in the UK’s Human Fertilisation and
Embryology Act 2008.