Offspring created as a result of donor insemination: a study of family relationships, child adjustment, and disclosure☆

Abstract 

Objective

To compare the quality of family relationships and children's socioemotional adjustment in families created by donor insemination where parents tended either toward disclosure or nondisclosure.

Design

A study of 46 families with a child aged 4–8 years who was conceived through donor insemination. The study used standardized interview data from mothers and fathers, teachers, and the children themselves.

Setting

An assisted conception unit endorsing openness.

Patient(s)

Parents and their 4- to 8-year-old child conceived through donor insemination.

Intervention(s)

Parents were interviewed, and children were administered psychological tests.

Main outcome measure(s)

Interviews and questionnaires assessing the quality of the marital relationship, parent-child relationships, and child psychological adjustment.

Result(s)

Mothers from disclosing families reported significantly less frequent and less severe arguments with their children and considered their children to show a lower level of conduct problems and to be less of a strain. The disclosing parents viewed themselves as more competent at parenting.

Conclusion(s)

The differences that were identified indicated more positive parent-child relationships in the disclosing than in the nondisclosing families. However, this did not represent dysfunctional relationships in the nondisclosing families but instead reflected particularly positive ratings in the disclosing group.

Keywords:  Donor insemination, nondisclosure, child emotional and behavioral adjustment, parent-child relationships