A longitudinal study of families formed through reproductive donation: Parent-adolescent relationships and adolescent adjustment at age 14.

Susan Golombok,Elena Ilioi,Gabriela Roman,Vasanti Jadva,Lucy Blake

doi:10.1037/dev0000372

Abstract

The aim of the 6th phase of this longitudinal study was to establish whether children born through assisted reproduction involving reproductive donation were at risk for psychological problems following the transition to adolescence at age 14 and, if so, to examine the nature of these problems and the mechanisms involved. Eighty-seven families formed through reproductive donation, including 32 donor insemination families, 27 egg donation families, and 28 surrogacy families, were compared with 54 natural conception families. Standardized interviews, questionnaires, and observational assessments of the quality of parent-adolescent relationships and adolescent adjustment were administered to mothers, adolescents, and teachers. The mothers in surrogacy families showed less negative parenting and reported greater acceptance of their adolescent children and fewer problems in family relationships as a whole compared with gamete donation mothers. In addition, less positive relationships were found between mothers and adolescents in egg donation families than in donor insemination families as rated by both mothers and adolescents. There were no differences between family types for the adolescents themselves in terms of adjustment problems, psychological well-being, and self-esteem. Longitudinal analyses showed no differences between family types in negative parenting from age 7 to age 14, and a weaker association between negative parenting and adjustment difficulties for gamete donation than natural conception and surrogacy families. The findings suggest that the absence of a genetic link between mothers and their children is associated with less positive mother-adolescent relationships whereas the absence of a gestational link does not have an adverse effect.

Highlights

Since the birth of the first baby through in vitro fertilization in 1978 (Steptoe & Edwards, 1978), more than 5 million children have been born through assisted reproductive technologies (Adamson, 2012), an increasing number of whom are born by reproductive donation, that is, by the donation of gametes or the hosting of a pregnancy for another woman
Children conceived by gamete donation and surrogacy differ from adopted children in that they have a genetic link to one parent, and are raised by their mother and father from birth, the absence of a genetic and/or gestational connection to a parent is considered to create important similarities between children born through reproductive donation and adopted children which may have implications for their identity development, psychological adjustment, and relationships with their parents (Cahn, 2009)
The present phase of the study involved 87 families with a child born through reproductive donation including 32 families with a child born through donor insemination, families with a child born through egg donation, and families with a child born through surrogacy, and a comparison group of 54 families with a naturally conceived child, representing 91%, 84%, 90%, and 100%, respectively, of the number of donor insemination, egg donation, surrogacy, and naturally conceived families seen at Phase 5, and 89%, 84%, 86%, and 100%, respectively, of the number of donor insemination, egg donation, surrogacy, and naturally conceived families seen at Phase 4

Summary

Introduction

Since the birth of the first baby through in vitro fertilization in 1978 (Steptoe & Edwards, 1978), more than 5 million children have been born through assisted reproductive technologies (Adamson, 2012), an increasing number of whom are born by reproductive donation, that is, by the donation of gametes (eggs or sperm) or the hosting of a pregnancy for another woman (surrogacy; Richards, Pennings, & Appleby, 2012). It has often been suggested that the creation of families through reproductive donation, whereby children lack a genetic and/or gestational relationship with their parents, may be detrimental to positive family functioning (Baran & Pannor, 1993; Daniels & Taylor, 1993; Velleman, 2005) This idea arose, in part, from studies of adoptive families, in which children lack a biological connection to their parents. Children conceived by gamete donation and surrogacy differ from adopted children in that they have a genetic link to one parent (their father in egg donation and surrogacy families and their mother in donor insemination families), and are raised by their mother and father from birth, the absence of a genetic and/or gestational connection to a parent is considered to create important similarities between children born through reproductive donation and adopted children which may have implications for their identity development, psychological adjustment, and relationships with their parents (Cahn, 2009). Adoptive parents are encouraged to acknowledge the difference between adoptive and biological families and create a family environment that supports open communication about adoption (Brodzinsky, 2011)

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