Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2012;4(3):159-72.

Counselling on disclosure of gamete donation to donor offspring:a search for facts

M Visser  1 , P A L Kop  1 , M van Wely  1 , F van der Veen  1 , G J E Gerrits  2 , M C B van Zwieten  3
Affiliations
Review

Counselling on disclosure of gamete donation to donor offspring:a search for facts

M Visser et al. Facts Views Vis Obgyn. 2012.

Abstract

Background: High quality counseling of potential parents is needed in the process of disclosure to donor offspring, which is important for the child and for family relationships. We performed a search for facts to identify the role of counseling in couples undergoing gamete donation.

Methods: We systematically searched Pubmed, EMBASE and Psychinfo. Studies were included if they reported on counseling in gamete donation.

Results: A total of 20 studies were included. Twelve studies stated that counselling was offered. The reported studies reflected no consensus about when and how counselling in gamete donation should be offered and no theoretical background of the disclosure/ secrecy issue. About 50% of the parents expressed the need for guidance and support of a counsellor. Special concerns were the disclosure issue and the future contact with the donor. Parents did not receive the guidance and support they needed in the disclosure process after treatment.

Conclusion: Empirical knowledge on counselling is lacking. This review demonstrates the need to know more precisely at what moments couples should be counselled, and which specific information and guidelines couples need to receive to be more confident in the disclosure process to donor offspring.

Keywords: Counselling; disclosure; donor offspring; family relationships; gamete donation; secrecy.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. Process from initial search to final inclusion for papers on counselling and parental concerns in disclosure in gamete donation.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Baetens P, Devroey P, Camus M, et al. Counselling couples and donors for oocyte donation: the decision to use either known or anonymous oocytes. Hum Reprod. 2000;15:476–484. - PubMed
    1. Baran A, Pannor B. The Psychology of Donor Insemination, Problems and Solutions. 2nd edn. New York: Amistad; 1993.
    1. Beeson DR, Jennings PK, Kramer W. Offspring searching for their sperm donors: how family type shapes the process. Hum Reprod. 2011;26:2415–2424. - PubMed
    1. Broderick P, Walker I. Information access and donated gametes: how much do we know about who wants to know? Hum Reprod. 1995;10:3338–3341. - PubMed
    1. Crawshaw M. Lessons from a recent adoption study to identify some of the service needs of, and issues for, donor offspring wanting to know about their donors. Hum Fertil (Camb) 2002;5:6–12. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources