Family Communication About the Donor Conception: A Multi-Perspective Qualitative Study With Lesbian Parents and Their Children.

In literature, disclosure of donor conception in lesbian families has been considered an obvious and straightforward event. However, little is known about the ways in which donor conception is discussed in planned lesbian co-mother families. This study focuses on the process of parent-child communication about the donor conception on a within-family level. Six families, including 7 children and 12 parents, were interviewed about their family communication with regard to donor conception. A dyadic interview analysis revealed that family members managed the space taken up by the topic of donor conception in their daily conversations. Within these conversations, they also took care of each other and of their family relationships. In addition, children had an active position in the co-construction of the donor conception narrative. Linking these findings to the concepts of relational management and functionality of donor conception narratives, this study informs practitioners in the field of medically assisted reproduction.

Two mothers and a donor: exploration of children's family concepts in lesbian households.

BACKGROUND: Although children from lesbian families appear to make a distinction between a residential father and a donor, defining these two concepts seems to be a challenge. They need to appeal to more familiar concepts such as the hetero-normative concept of 'mother' to give a definition of the unfamiliar concepts they are confronted with. METHODS: The study is based on qualitative in-depth interviews with 6 children (9-10 years old) from lesbian families, all of which have been conceived using anonymous sperm donation. Semi-structured interviews were conducted. RESULTS: Two findings stand out. First, in defining the concepts of biological and non-biological mother, both mothers were described as equal parents. No difference was attached by the children to the mothers' position as a parent. Second, the concepts 'non-biological mother' and 'donor' were defined by looking at the hetero-normative concepts of 'mummy' and 'daddy'. To define the non-biological mother, both a 'mummy' and a 'daddy' were used as a reference. To define the donor concept, often references were made to a daddy. This comparison with a 'daddy' turned out to be complex due to the conflict between the role as a progenitor and the lack of a social relationship. The lack of language surrounding this concept turned out to be difficult. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS: This study illustrates the complexity and ambiguity of children's experiences and perceptions when dealing with issues related to genetic and social parenthood.