{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,14]],"date-time":"2026-10-14T23:02:09Z","timestamp":1792018929466,"version":"4.4.0"},"reference-count":42,"publisher":"Oxford University Press (OUP)","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,15]],"date-time":"2023-03-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1678838400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100010269","name":"Wellcome Trust","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["208013\/Z\/17\/Z"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["208013\/Z\/17\/Z"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100010269","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,2]]},"abstract":"Abstract<\/jats:title>STUDY QUESTION<\/jats:title>What are thoughts and feelings of young adults born following egg donation, sperm donation, and surrogacy?<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>SUMMARY ANSWER<\/jats:title>Young adults felt either unconcerned or positive about the method of their conception.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY<\/jats:title>Much of what we know about adults born to heterosexual couples following anonymous donation has come from samples of donor conceived people who had found out about their origins during adulthood. There have been no studies of how young adults born through surrogacy feel about their conception and towards their surrogate.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION<\/jats:title>Thirty-five young adults were interviewed as part of the seventh phase of a larger multi-method, multi-informant longitudinal study of assisted conception families in the UK. Adults were conceived using either egg donation, sperm donation, gestational surrogacy, or genetic surrogacy and were raised in households headed by heterosexual couples.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>PARTICIPANTS\/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS<\/jats:title>Participants had a mean age of 20\u2009years and were born following traditional surrogacy (n\u2009=\u200910), gestational surrogacy (n\u2009=\u20095), egg donation (n\u2009=\u200911), or sperm donation (n\u2009=\u20099). All young adults born following sperm donation and most (n\u2009=\u200910) born from egg donation had an anonymous donor. In all surrogacy arrangements, the parents had met the surrogate prior to treatment. The majority of young adults were told about their conception by the age of 4\u2009years. Participants were interviewed over the internet using a semi-structured interview. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using qualitative content analysis to understand young adults\u2019 thoughts and experiences related to their conception and whether they were interested in meeting their donor or surrogate.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE<\/jats:title>Fourteen (40%) young adults felt their conception made them feel special or unique, with the remainder feeling either neutral or unconcerned (n\u2009=\u200921, 60%). A higher proportion of young adults conceived using egg donation (n\u2009=\u20098, 73%) felt unique\/special compared to young adults born following sperm donation and surrogacy. For 10 of the young adults, their feelings about their conception had changed over time, with most becoming more positive (n\u2009=\u20099, 26%). For most young adults (n\u2009=\u200922, 63%), conception was rarely or infrequently discussed with others. However, when it was, these conversations were largely conducted with ease. Most (n\u2009=\u200925, 71%) did not know other individuals born through the same method of conception as themselves, and the vast majority (n\u2009=\u200934, 97%) were not members of any support groups. For the 25 young adults not in contact with their donor or surrogate, 11 wished to meet them, 8 did not want to have contact, and 6 were unsure. Young adults in contact with their donor or surrogate had varying levels of closeness to them. Only one young adult had searched for the identity of their donor.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION<\/jats:title>Of the 47 young adults invited to participate in the present study, 35 agreed to take part resulting in a response rate of 74%. It is therefore not known how those who did not take part felt about their conception. Given that the families reported here had been taking part in this longitudinal study from when the target child was aged 1\u2009year, they may have been more likely to discuss the child\u2019s conception than other families. The study also utilized self-report measures, which may have been prone to social desirability, with donor conceived young adults wanting to present their experiences in a positive light.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS<\/jats:title>The findings suggest that young adults born through surrogacy and donor conception do not feel negatively about their birth and this may be a consequence of the young age at which they found out about their conception. Although some young adults said they wished to meet their donor, this did not necessarily mean they were actively searching for them.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>STUDY FUNDING\/COMPETING INTEREST(S)<\/jats:title>The study was funded by the Wellcome Trust [grant number 208013\/Z\/17\/Z]. The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER<\/jats:title>N\/A.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1093\/humrep\/dead048","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,15]],"date-time":"2023-03-15T20:56:08Z","timestamp":1678913768000},"page":"908-916","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":20,"title":["\u2018I know it\u2019s not normal but it\u2019s normal to me, and that\u2019s all that matters\u2019: experiences of young adults conceived through egg donation, sperm donation, and surrogacy"],"prefix":"10.1093","volume":"38","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0922-0694","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"V","family":"Jadva","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Family Research, University of Cambridge , Cambridge, UK"},{"name":"Institute for Women\u2019s Health, University College London , London, UK"},{"name":"Institute for Women\u2019s Health, Faculty of Population Health Sciences, University College London , London, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6078-3455","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"C","family":"Jones","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry Centre, King\u2019s College London , London, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"P","family":"Hall","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Family Research, University of Cambridge , Cambridge, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3022-6559","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"S","family":"Imrie","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Family Research, University of Cambridge , Cambridge, UK"},{"name":"Murray Edwards College, University of Cambridge , Cambridge, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1623-2693","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"S","family":"Golombok","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Family Research, University of Cambridge , Cambridge, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"286","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,15]]},"reference":[{"key":"2023050207200270500_dead048-B1","volume-title":"Emerging Adulthood: The Winding Road From the Late Teens Through the Twenties","author":"Arnett","year":"2004"},{"key":"2023050207200270500_dead048-B2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"68","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1750-8606.2007.00016.x","article-title":"Emerging adulthood: what is it, and what is it good for?","volume":"1","author":"Arnett","year":"2007","journal-title":"Child Dev Perspect"},{"key":"2023050207200270500_dead048-B3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2415","DOI":"10.1093\/humrep\/der202","article-title":"Offspring searching for their sperm donors: how family type shapes the process","volume":"26","author":"Beeson","year":"2011","journal-title":"Hum Reprod"},{"key":"2023050207200270500_dead048-B4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"425","DOI":"10.1111\/chso.12014","article-title":"I was quite amazed\u2019: donor conception and parent-child relationships from the child\u2019s perspective","volume":"28","author":"Blake","year":"2014","journal-title":"Child Soc"},{"key":"2023050207200270500_dead048-B5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2527","DOI":"10.1093\/humrep\/deq208","article-title":"Daddy ran out of tadpoles\u2019: how parents tell their children that they are donor conceived, and what their 7-year-olds understand","volume":"25","author":"Blake","year":"2010","journal-title":"Hum Reprod"},{"key":"2023050207200270500_dead048-B6","volume-title":"Surrogacy: Review for Health Ministers of Current Arrangements for Payments and Regulation. Report of the Review Team (Report No. Cm 4068)","author":"Brazier","year":"1998"},{"key":"2023050207200270500_dead048-B8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1300\/J145v09n04_01","article-title":"Family structural openness and communication openness as predictors in the adjustment of adopted children","volume":"9","author":"Brodzinsky","year":"2006","journal-title":"Adopt Q"},{"key":"2023050207200270500_dead048-B9","author":"Chain","year":"2022"},{"key":"2023050207200270500_dead048-B10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"656","DOI":"10.1111\/famp.12069","article-title":"Adoptees' contact with birth parents in emerging adulthood: the role of adoption communication and attachment to adoptive parents","volume":"53","author":"Farr","year":"2014","journal-title":"Fam Process"},{"key":"2023050207200270500_dead048-B11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"103","DOI":"10.1111\/cdep.12406","article-title":"Love and truth: what really matters for children born through third-party assisted reproduction","volume":"15","author":"Golombok","year":"2021","journal-title":"Child Dev Perspect"},{"key":"2023050207200270500_dead048-B12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"653","DOI":"10.1111\/jcpp.12015","article-title":"Children born through reproductive donation: a longitudinal study of psychological adjustment","volume":"54","author":"Golombok","year":"2013","journal-title":"J Child Psychol Psychiatry"},{"key":"2023050207200270500_dead048-B13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1966","DOI":"10.1037\/dev0000372","article-title":"A longitudinal study of families formed through reproductive donation: parent-adolescent relationships and adolescent adjustment at age 14","volume":"53","author":"Golombok","year":"2017","journal-title":"Dev Psychol"},{"key":"2023050207200270500_dead048-B14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"286","DOI":"10.1093\/humrep\/deh585","article-title":"Families created by gamete donation: follow up at age 2","volume":"20","author":"Golombok","year":"2005","journal-title":"Hum Reprod"},{"key":"2023050207200270500_dead048-B151","article-title":"A longitudinal study of families formed through third-party assisted reproduction: Mother-child relationships and child adjustment from infancy to adulthood","author":"Golombok","journal-title":"Dev Psychol"},{"key":"2023050207200270500_dead048-B15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"443","DOI":"10.1037\/0893-3200.18.3.443","article-title":"Parenting infants conceived by gamete donation","volume":"18","author":"Golombok","year":"2004","journal-title":"J Fam Psychol"},{"key":"2023050207200270500_dead048-B16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"213","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1469-7610.2005.01453.x","article-title":"Surrogacy families: parental functioning, parent\u2013child relationships and children\u2019s psychological development at age 2","volume":"47","author":"Golombok","year":"2006","journal-title":"J Child Psychol & Psychiat"},{"key":"2023050207200270500_dead048-B17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1918","DOI":"10.1093\/humrep\/del039","article-title":"Non-genetic and non-gestational parenthood: consequences for parent-child relationships and the psychological well-being of mothers, fathers and children at age 3","volume":"21","author":"Golombok","year":"2006","journal-title":"Hum Reprod"},{"key":"2023050207200270500_dead048-B18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"400","DOI":"10.1037\/0012-1649.40.3.400","article-title":"Families created through a surrogacy arrangement: parent-child relationships in the first year of life","volume":"40","author":"Golombok","year":"2004","journal-title":"Dev Psychol"},{"key":"2023050207200270500_dead048-B153","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1579","DOI":"10.1037\/a0025292","article-title":"Families created through surrogacy: mother-child relationships and children\u2019s psychological adjustment at age 7","volume":"47","author":"Golombok","year":"2011","journal-title":"Dev Psychol"},{"key":"2023050207200270500_dead048-B19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1135","DOI":"10.1093\/humrep\/dew065","article-title":"The end of donor anonymity: how genetic testing is likely to drive anonymous gamete donation out of business","volume":"31","author":"Harper","year":"2016","journal-title":"Hum Reprod"},{"key":"2023050207200270500_dead048-B152","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"75","DOI":"10.1080\/15267431.2014.980823","article-title":"\u201cIt\u2019s just who I am\u2026 I have brown hair. I have a mysterious father\u201d: an exploration of donor-conceived offspring\u2019s identity construction","volume":"15","author":"Harrigan","year":"2015","journal-title":"J Fam Commun"},{"key":"2023050207200270500_dead048-B20","volume-title":"Adoption, Search and Reunion: The Long Term Experience of Adopted Adults","author":"Howe","year":"2000"},{"key":"2023050207200270500_dead048-B21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"315","DOI":"10.1111\/jcpp.12667","article-title":"The role of age of disclosure of biological origins in the psychological wellbeing of adolescents conceived by reproductive donation: a longitudinal study from age 1 to age 14","volume":"58","author":"Ilioi","year":"2017","journal-title":"J Child Psychol Psychiatry"},{"key":"2023050207200270500_dead048-B22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3008","DOI":"10.1093\/humrep\/des273","article-title":"Surrogacy families 10 years on: relationship with the surrogate, decisions over disclosure and children's understanding of their surrogacy origins","volume":"27","author":"Jadva","year":"2012","journal-title":"Hum Reprod"},{"key":"2023050207200270500_dead048-B23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"523","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rbmo.2010.01.001","article-title":"Experiences of offspring searching for and contacting their donor siblings and donor","volume":"20","author":"Jadva","year":"2010","journal-title":"Reprod Biomed Online"},{"key":"2023050207200270500_dead048-B24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1909","DOI":"10.1093\/humrep\/dep110","article-title":"The experiences of adolescents and adults conceived by sperm donation: comparisons by age of disclosure and family type","volume":"24","author":"Jadva","year":"2009","journal-title":"Hum Reprod"},{"key":"2023050207200270500_dead048-B26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"93","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1741-3737.2002.00093.x","article-title":"Adopted adolescents\u2019 preoccupation with adoption: the impact on adoptive family relationships","volume":"64","author":"Kohler","year":"2002","journal-title":"J Marriage Fam"},{"key":"2023050207200270500_dead048-B27","first-page":"339","volume-title":"A Practical Guide, Content Analysis: An Introduction to Its Methodology","author":"Krippendorff","year":"2004","edition":"2nd edn"},{"key":"2023050207200270500_dead048-B28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"510","DOI":"10.1093\/humrep\/deab275","article-title":"National survey of donor-conceived individuals who requested information about their sperm donor-experiences from 17 years of identity releases in Sweden","volume":"37","author":"Lampic","year":"2022","journal-title":"Hum Reprod"},{"key":"2023050207200270500_dead048-B29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"247","DOI":"10.1016\/j.fertnstert.2017.06.001","article-title":"Sperm donor conception and disclosure to children: a 10-year retrospective follow-up study of parental attitudes in one French center for the study and preservation of eggs and sperm (CECOS)","volume":"108","author":"Lassalzede","year":"2017","journal-title":"Fertil Steril"},{"key":"2023050207200270500_dead048-B30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1334","DOI":"10.1093\/humrep\/deg253","article-title":"Surrogacy: the experience of commissioning couples","volume":"18","author":"MacCallum","year":"2003","journal-title":"Hum Reprod"},{"key":"2023050207200270500_dead048-B31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"149","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rbmo.2021.04.005","article-title":"The motivations of donor-conceived adults for seeking information about, and contact with, sperm donors","volume":"43","author":"Macmillan","year":"2021","journal-title":"Reprod Biomed Online"},{"key":"2023050207200270500_dead048-B32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"36","DOI":"10.1177\/00380385221091184","article-title":"Truth, proof, sleuth: trust in direct-to-consumer DNA testing and other sources of identity information among Australian donor-conceived people","volume":"57","author":"Newton","year":"2022","journal-title":"Sociology"},{"key":"2023050207200270500_dead048-B33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"303","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rbmo.2010.11.007","article-title":"Donor information considered important to donors, recipients and offspring: an Australian perspective","volume":"22","author":"Rodino","year":"2011","journal-title":"Reprod Biomed Online"},{"key":"2023050207200270500_dead048-B34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1392","DOI":"10.1093\/humrep\/14.5.1392","article-title":"Telling the story: parents' scripts for donor offspring","volume":"14","author":"Rumball","year":"1999","journal-title":"Hum Reprod"},{"key":"2023050207200270500_dead048-B35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"239","DOI":"10.1093\/humrep\/deh581","article-title":"Adolescents with open-identity sperm donors: reports from 12-17 year olds","volume":"20","author":"Scheib","year":"2005","journal-title":"Hum Reprod"},{"key":"2023050207200270500_dead048-B36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"483","DOI":"10.1016\/j.fertnstert.2016.10.023","article-title":"Who requests their sperm donor's identity? The first ten years of information releases to adults with open-identity donors","volume":"107","author":"Scheib","year":"2017","journal-title":"Fertil Steril"},{"key":"2023050207200270500_dead048-B37","volume-title":"Identity Formation in the Adopted Adolescent","author":"Stein","year":"1985"},{"key":"2023050207200270500_dead048-B38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1275","DOI":"10.1093\/humrep\/dew068","article-title":"Parental disclosure of assisted reproductive technology (ART) conception to their children: a systematic and meta-analytic review","volume":"31","author":"Tallandini","year":"2016","journal-title":"Hum Reprod"},{"key":"2023050207200270500_dead048-B39","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2041","DOI":"10.1093\/humrep\/15.9.2041","article-title":"What does it mean to be a donor offspring? The identity experiences of adults conceived by donor insemination and the implications for counselling and therapy","volume":"15","author":"Turner","year":"2000","journal-title":"Hum Reprod"},{"key":"2023050207200270500_dead048-B40","first-page":"37","article-title":"Adoptees' curiosity and information seeking about birth parents in emerging adulthood: context, motivation, and behavior","volume":"1","author":"Wrobel","year":"2013","journal-title":"Int J Behav Dev"},{"key":"2023050207200270500_dead048-B41","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1099","DOI":"10.1093\/humrep\/dey088","article-title":"The perspectives of adolescents conceived using surrogacy, egg or sperm donation","volume":"33","author":"Zadeh","year":"2018","journal-title":"Hum Reprod"}],"container-title":["Human Reproduction"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/humrep\/article-pdf\/38\/5\/908\/50128154\/dead048.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"syndication"},{"URL":"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/humrep\/article-pdf\/38\/5\/908\/50128154\/dead048.pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2023,12,8]],"date-time":"2023-12-08T00:13:34Z","timestamp":1701994414000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/humrep\/article\/38\/5\/908\/7078526"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,15]]},"references-count":42,"journal-issue":{"issue":"5","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,15]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,2]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1093\/humrep\/dead048","relation":{},"ISSN":["0268-1161","1460-2350"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0268-1161","type":"print"},{"value":"1460-2350","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published-other":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,1]]},"published":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,15]]}}}