Disclosure of donor conception, age of disclosure and the well-being of donor offspring

Abstract

The matter of disclosure of donor conception to donor offspring is a very contentious issue. A frequently mentioned argument is that disclosure is in the best interest of the child. The objectives of this paper are 2-fold: first, to find out whether there are any measureable, stable differences in the psychological well-being of donor offspring who are informed of the mode of their conception compared to those who are not, and second, to find out what is being done with the evidence. We found that there exists no empirical evidence of differences in psychological well-being of donor offspring in disclosing or nondisclosing families. Regarding the age of disclosure, the findings are inconclusive. Some studies indicate no difference and some show slight positive effects of early disclosure. We also found that authors tend to ignore their own findings when formulating recommendations and that the recommendations are based on implicit moral premises. We conclude that disclosure, and directive counseling towards disclosure, cannot be justified by the welfare of the donor offspring.

Keywords: disclosure; donor conception; donor offspring; ethics; gamete donation; secrets; well-being.