O-212 Single fathers by choice: experiences of surrogacy and thoughts and feelings about disclosure
Authors: Jones C , Zadeh S , Jadva V , Golombok S 
Published: June 2022

Study question

What are the experiences of single men regarding (i) the process of surrogacy (ii) their relationship with the surrogate (iii) disclosing surrogacy to their child?

Summary answer

The fathers reported a variety of experiences of surrogacy and all fathers had either disclosed or intended to disclose using surrogacy to their child.

What is known already

Very little is known about single men’s experiences of surrogacy arrangements and how they think and feel about disclosing their use of surrogacy and egg donation to their child. Studies have focused on the decision-making process of using surrogacy as a single man and family functioning once these families are formed. Yet questions remain about how fathers experience and navigate the process of surrogacy as a single man and how they communicate to their child about their surrogacy story.

Study design, size, duration

The study is an international, multi-disciplinary, qualitative study of fathers who chose to begin a family and parent alone. Data were collected by two researchers between 2018 and 2021 and form part of a larger study of single fathers by choice with different routes to parenthood. The present study reports on twenty-one fathers who used surrogacy and egg donation to begin their family. The children were aged between 0-6 years.

Participants/materials, setting, methods

Purposive sampling was used to recruit participants. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with the single fathers. The interview topics covered fathers’ motivations for pursuing single parenthood, experiences of the process of using egg donation and surrogacy, surrogacy arrangements including location, navigating the relationship with the surrogate, and fathers' decisions around disclosing their route to parenthood to their child. The audio-recorded interviews mostly lasted around two hours and verbatim transcripts were produced afterwards.

Main results and the role of chance

Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis and qualitative content analysis. Preliminary analysis indicated that the fathers reported a variety of experiences of surrogacy and had differing experiences in terms of the length of time it took to begin the surrogacy journey and the ease with which arrangements were made. Many of the fathers had remained in contact with the surrogate, but to differing degrees. Clinics were placed as both facilitators and gatekeepers of the process, pointing to the complexities of the surrogacy process.

Regarding disclosure, it was found that the fathers thought more about when to disclose, rather than whether to disclose. All the fathers stated an intention to tell their child about their surrogacy story, but carefully considered which age was best and wanted to use child-led methods of disclosure. The fathers reported that it was hard to hide their route to parenthood and expressed a motivation to talk openly to their children about the way in which they built their family. Many fathers described either using books or creating their own book as a disclosure aid for their child.

Limitations, reasons for caution

Due to the variation between different countries regarding laws on surrogacy, the findings may not be representative of experiences of surrogacy in different contexts from the ones studied. The sample size was relatively small; however, the research provides new insights into an area with little academic literature.

Wider implications of the findings

The study findings contribute a new understanding of the experiences of single fathers who use surrogacy to begin a family. The disclosure findings largely reflect those of studies of single mothers through sperm donation showing that single parents are very likely to disclose and many disclose at an early age.

Trial registration number

N / A