title: The Meaning of the Sperm Donor for Heterosexual Couples: Confirming the Position of the Father.
abstract: In the literature, relatively little attention has been paid to the meaning of donor involvement in the intimate couple dyad. The current study aimed to enrich our understanding of couples' meaning-making regarding the anonymous sperm donor and how they dealt with the donor involvement. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine couples, who had at least one child conceived through sperm donation. Our thematic analysis showed that the donor conception was seen as a different path to create a normal family. Once the family was formed, most couples avoided talking about the donor because it was perceived as disrupting men's growing confidence in their position as father. Participants tried to confirm the position of the father to protect the family relationships. Uncertainties about how they were perceived as parents showed the continuing dominance of genetic ties within our social discourse. Participants also dealt with reminders of the donor in their daily life. Overall, they tried to manage the space taken up by the donor and to protect the position of the father. We relate our findings to literature on topic avoidance and shared obliviousness in families. For counseling practice, it could be useful to explore couples' meaning-making about the donor as this seemed to serve family functioning.
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental-Clinical and Health Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Elia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Wyverkens
authors.affiliation: Department of Philosophy, Bioethics Institute Ghent, Ghent University, Gent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Veerle
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Provoost
authors.affiliation: Department of Philosophy, Bioethics Institute Ghent, Ghent University, Gent, Belgium.
authors.forename: An
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ravelingien
authors.affiliation: Department of Philosophy, Bioethics Institute Ghent, Ghent University, Gent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Guido
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pennings
authors.affiliation: Department of Reproductive Medicine, Ghent University Hospital, Gent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Petra
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: De Sutter
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental-Clinical and Health Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Ann
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Buysse
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005195:Family Relations; D005220:Fathers / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D020010:Heterosexuality / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007316:Insemination, Artificial, Heterologous / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012747:Sexual Partners / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: Family Relationships; Gamete Donation; Infertility; Qualitative Research; donación de gametos; infertilidad; investigación cualitativa; relaciones familiares; 不孕; 定性研究; 家庭关系; 性细胞捐献