Disclosing their type of conception to offspring conceived by gamete or embryo donation in Spain

Abstract

Objective: To explore the intention of Spanish patients who were undergoing a reproductive donation treatment to disclose their offspring’s origins. Background: In Spain, the law establishes the anonymity of the donation process and prohibits revealing the donor’s identity to the offspring or the parents. Method: The design was a prospective observational study in a private institution. The participants were Spanish family units (heterosexual couples, homosexual couples and single women) undergoing a reproductive donation treatment in FivMadrid, Madrid, Spain. One hundred and thirty family units accepted and returned the complete questionnaire specially designed for this study. Results: Of the participants, 61% intend to disclose their offspring’s origins; 85% of those who want to reveal will do so during childhood (between 3 and 8 years of age); 95% think it is a good decision to undergo a gamete donation treatment; 95% feel the future child is theirs; 64% of the participants are concerned about the physical characteristics of the donors; 63% consider psychological counselling to be important during treatment, and 55% during pregnancy and after delivery. In all these results there were no significant differences (P < 0.05) between traditional families (heterosexual couples) and non-traditional families (lesbian couples and single women). Conclusions: Even though Spanish legislation does not allow families and donors to know each other, our results are consistent with others presented in different European countries where legislations are different and the offspring and the families are permitted to meet their donors. Many of the Spanish parents studied plan to take a responsible and coherent decision about disclosing their origins to their children, choosing an honest and open relationship.