title: Integrating donor conception into identity development: adolescents in fatherless families.
abstract: To study the processes by which donor-conceived children incorporate donor conception into their subjective sense of identity.
  
  
  
  Cross-sectional.
  
  
  
  Family homes.
  
  
  
  Nineteen donor-conceived adolescents.
  
  
  
  Administration of an interview and questionnaire.
  
  
  
  The mother-child relationship was assessed through the Friends and Family Interview, a semistructured interview designed to assess adolescents' security of attachment in terms of secure-autonomous, insecure-dismissive, insecure-preoccupied, and insecure-disorganized attachment patterns. The Donor Conception Identity Questionnaire assessed adolescents' thoughts and feelings about donor conception, yielding two factors: [1] curiosity about donor conception and [2] avoidance of donor conception.
  
  
  
  Statistically significant associations were found between the Curiosity scale and the secure-autonomous and insecure-dismissing attachment ratings. Adolescents with secure-autonomous attachment patterns were more interested in exploring donor conception whereas those with insecure-dismissing patterns were less likely to express curiosity. Insecure-disorganized attachment ratings were statistically significantly correlated with the Avoidance scale, indicating higher levels of negative feelings about donor conception.
  
  
  
  The results of this study of the influence of parent-child relationships on thoughts and feelings about donor conception in adolescence suggest that the valence of the parent-child relationship influences adolescents' appraisal of their donor conception within the context of their growing sense of identity.
authors.affiliation: Center for Attachment Research, New School for Social Research, The New School, New York, New York.
authors.forename: Jenna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Slutsky
authors.affiliation: Centre for Family Research, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Vasanti
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Jadva
authors.affiliation: Centre for Family Research, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Tabitha
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Freeman
authors.affiliation: Center for Attachment Research, New School for Social Research, The New School, New York, New York.
authors.forename: Sherina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Persaud
authors.affiliation: Center for Attachment Research, New School for Social Research, The New School, New York, New York.
authors.forename: Miriam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Steele
authors.affiliation: Center for Attachment Research, New School for Social Research, The New School, New York, New York.
authors.forename: Howard
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Steele
authors.affiliation: Donor Sibling Registry, Nederland, Colorado.
authors.forename: Wendy
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Kramer
authors.affiliation: Centre for Family Research, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom. Electronic address: seg42@cam.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Golombok
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D041923:Adolescent Development; D001362:Avoidance Learning; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004644:Emotions; D005106:Exploratory Behavior; D005260:Female; D018452:Homosexuality, Female / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007316:Insemination, Artificial, Heterologous; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology; D012042:Registries; D012649:Self Concept; D012661:Semen; D000072339:Sexual and Gender Minorities / Q000523:psychology*; D020954:Single-Parent Family / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014019:Tissue Donors; D014481:United States
keywords: Adolescence; attachment; donor conception; identity; sperm donation