Donor conception - Ken Daniels

I went to a fantastic workshop earlier this week organised by PROGAR about donor conception. The keynote speaker was Professor Ken Daniels from New Zealand who gave an inspiring talk which covered the whole issue of how we deal with donor conception.  If you've ever had any doubts about whether telling a child they were donor conceived is the right thing to do, just a few minutes listening to Ken Daniels talking would leave you utterly convinced.

He showed how being open about donor conception, and telling children from an early age just stops it being an issue at all, and illustrated how difficult it is when there is a secret at the heart of a family.  Some of the stories he told and clips he played were so moving that they left a tear in my eye, but he passed on his information in such a calm, measured way.

There was a really interesting discussion afterwards with two people who had been conceived with donor gametes - and again, their testimony made it clear that telling is just so important.  It can be hard to know quite how, or what, to tell a child but the earlier you do it, the easier it is as it just becomes something that a child has always known rather than information imparted in a formal way.  If you're worried about how to tell, contact the Donor Conception Network, who run fantastic courses on this very subject where you will also have the opportunity to meet up with other parents

Donor sibling link

People who have been born as a result of donor conception will be able to contact others who share the same donor from today. Once they reach 18, those conceived through donor treatment can join the Donor Sibling Link, a new service launched by the HFEA (Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority), which will enable them to get in touch with any genetic siblings who have also joined. As donors usually make more than one donation, there may be a number of genetic siblings in different families and this will allow them to find out about one another.


The Donor Sibling Link can only be used by those who were conceived using donor eggs, sperm or embryos and their parents or other family members are not able to access the information.
See more here

HFEA consultations on donor conception

The HFEA is holding a couple of events related to donor conception - one for people who were conceived using donor sperm or eggs and their families, and one for those who are donors or who are considering becoming donors. Both events will be an opportunity to discuss issues surrounding donor conception.

The event for donors and prospective donors will be an evening workshop on 22 July in Hatton Garden, London between 5 and 7.30. Donors will be able to discuss the kind of guidance and information the HFEA could provide to support them. To register for this free event, see details on the HFEA website

The second event is for donor conceived people and their parents, and is also in Hatton Garden between 10.30 and 3.00 on Wednesday, 29 July 2009. This will be an opportunity to find out more about the changes to the information which donor-conceived people can request about their origins. The HFEA wants to hear their views about the support they need to access this information from the HFEA. Again, details can be found on the HFEA website

Men wanted - donor fathers to share stories

Do you know any fathers of donor-conceived children who may be willing to talk about their experiences? The Donor Conception Network are looking for some fathers to help at their highly successful Talking and Teling workshops.

If you - or someone you know - is the father of a child conceived usng donor sperm, eggs or embryos, the DC Network would like to hear from you. You would need to be happy to talk about your experiences, feel comfortable with the way you have created your family and willing to share your stories. You will be paid for the work, and training is given. You need to be available for at least three Saturdays a year. If you want to know more, you can get in touch with the DC Network through their website, www.dcnetwork.org .

If you're thinking of using donor sperm, eggs or embryos to become a parent, you can find out more about preparing for parenthood and the courses run by the DC Network from the website, too.

Planning to use donor eggs or sperm?

Anyone who is faced with the prospect of using donor eggs or sperm may be particularly interested in the Donor Conception Network's annual conference which is to be held in Nottingham on October 11th.

This year, speakers at the conference will include donor-conceived teenagers and young adults who will talk about their experiences and what donor conception has meant to them. If you know you may need to use donor eggs or sperm, if you're about to start donor treatment, or if you already have younger donor-conceived children, this may prove to be an invaluable insight into how families deal with it and what young people think about the issue.

You can find out more on the Donor Conception Network website

Talking and Telling workshops

The Donor Conception Network is organising a series of workshops for parents of children conceived using donor gametes, looking at what and how to tell children about their conception. The workshops are currently still at the planning stage, but will take place in locations across the UK. Bristol, Birmingham, Leeds, Chelmsford, Oxford, Salisbury and London are all likely to host workshops, and anyone who may be interested can find out more from the DC Network website .