Title: Curious Connections: The Impact of Donating Egg and Sperm on Donors' Everyday Life and Relationships
Funder: Economic and Social Research Council

Abstract: Background In a culture that emphasises the importance of genetic connectedness and which holds that vital and enduring family relationships pass through genetic reproduction, the decision to give away one's eggs or sperm is radical indeed. This is however something that is becoming increasingly common as more people struggle with issues of infertility, and the fertility industry is growing. Questions arise about how donors experience the process of donating and how that process impacts on their everyday lives and relationships. We know very little about this, and the lack of knowledge is becoming problematic given recent developments in law and policy. Whereas, in the past, donors were anonymous and so could choose to keep their donation a secret from close kin, recent legal changes mean that donors are now identifiable. In 2023, the first children born through 'identity release' egg or sperm donors will be able to seek contact. Donors nowadays are therefore likely to deliberate on how to manage such openness and contact within the context of their own relationships with partners, parents and their own children. Being open may not be a straightforward task; evidence to suggest that donors may prefer to keep the information secret, and that sensitivities therefore can grow in family networks. This is a sister project to our previous study Relative Strangers (funded by the ESRC 2010-2013, C Smart PI, P Nordqvist, CI) which explored family life after receiving donor egg and sperm. This showed the impact of donor conception on family relationships and raised unforeseen questions about donors, suggesting that giving away (as opposed to receiving) egg and sperm may impact on family relationships in significant ways. There is no existing research in England or beyond exploring how donors experience donating, or their process of sharing information within their families. Proposed study and research focus It is timely and important to explore in greater depth the experience of egg and sperm donors, and how donating impacts on donors' everyday lives and relationships. This study: 1. researches the policy on donation and the rights and obligations of donors 2. attends to how egg and sperm donors negotiate donation within the context of their everyday lives and relationships, and also if and how they share information with close kin 3. explores how close kin react to and experience the existence of donor offspring 4. investigates the similarities and difference between male and female donors' experiences 5. illuminates what the practice of sperm/egg donation as a practice can tell us about contemporary kinship and family cultures Approach and methods This study takes the donor as a starting point, but in order to better understand the process and family dynamics that underscore donors' experience, it will look beyond the donor and situate donating within the context of their close relationships. We will utilise a qualitative approach, enabling us to explore donors' experiences and understandings. We will analyse existing policy on donors and conduct 90 qualitative semi-structured interviews with 50 donors (25 with egg donors and 25 with sperm donors), 20 close kin (partners and parents) and 20 infertility counsellors. Beneficiaries and impact A range of policy makers, practitioners, user groups, users and the general public stand to benefit from this study. Sought outcomes include increasing the effectiveness of policy and better targeted practical support and information offered to donors and families by donor conception. The impact will be realised through a range of pathways, e.g. a conference, a public debate, a podcast, blogs, films and through the production of findings-based user group leaflets. Academic communities that stand to benefit from this research include those in the field of reproductive technologies and reproduction more broadly, sociologists of family life and intimacy, and medical sociologists.


Research activity codes: 8.3 POLICY, ETHICS AND RESEARCH GOVERNANCE
Health categories: REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH AND CHILDBIRTH