title: Children conceived by gamete donation: psychological adjustment and mother-child relationships at age 7.
abstract: An increasing number of babies are being born using donated sperm, where the child lacks a genetic link to the father, or donated eggs, where the child lacks a genetic link to the mother. This study examined the impact of telling children about their donor conception on mother-child relationships and children's psychological adjustment. Assessments of maternal positivity, maternal negativity, mother-child interaction, and child adjustment were administered to 32 egg donation, 36 donor insemination, and 54 natural conception families with a 7-year-old child. Although no differences were found for maternal negativity or child adjustment, mothers in nondisclosing gamete donation families showed less positive interaction than mothers in natural conception families, suggesting that families may benefit from openness about the child's genetic origins.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Family Research, Faculty of Politics Psychology Sociology and International Studies, University of Cambridge, UK. seg42@cam.ac.uk
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Golombok
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Readings
authors.forename: Lucy
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Blake
authors.forename: Polly
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Casey
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mellish
authors.forename: Alex
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Marks
authors.forename: Vasanti
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Jadva
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005307:Fertilization in Vitro / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007316:Insemination, Artificial, Heterologous / Q000523:psychology*; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D018587:Oocyte Donation / Q000523:psychology*