From Reflexivity to Normalization: Parents and Children Confronting Disclosure in Families Formed through Assisted Reproduction Involving Gamete Donation

Abstract

This article explores how parents and children in families formed through assisted reproductive technologies involving gamete donation (ART-D) experience disclosure of children's genetic origins. We draw our data from a large study centered on attitudes and strategies towards disclosure in ART-D families in Spain and focus on a sub-sample of eighteen families (24 children) in which parents and children were interviewed and, often, observed in other organizational settings. This sample is primarily formed by female-led families (single mothers by choice and lesbian couples) and helps reveal how maternal/parental reflexive work and socialization strategies around their family project are reconstructed and appropriated by their children. We focus on three socialization strategies and contexts that are singled-out and discussed by adults and children: narratives about children's origins, family organizations, and teachable moments in daily interaction. The results show how children treat as unproblematic and ordinary aspects of their family experience and genetic origins that are at the center of maternal reflexive work and concerns. We close the article by discussing ways in which research and researchers can support the work that families are already leading around disclosure.