"There might be two hundreds of us" - a qualitative study on the experience of meeting large numbers of same donor offspring
Large donor sibling groups create both connection and complexity for donor-conceived adults
Zeghiche, S., Côté, I., & Lépine, M. R. (2024, July 7-10). "There might be two hundreds of us" - a qualitative study on the experience of meeting large numbers of same donor offspring [Conference presentation abstract]. 40th Annual Meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology, Amsterdam, Netherlands. Human Reproduction, 39(Supplement 1), deae108.263. https://doi.org/10.1093/humrep/deae108.263
Geographic Region: US, UK, Canada, Germany
Research Question: What are the experiences of donor-conceived people who discover large numbers (over 20) of same donor offspring, from a personal and relational point of view?
Research Methods: Exploratory qualitative study design with in-depth online interviews. Data collected Fall 2021 through Winter 2022.
Sample: 22 donor-conceived adults with 20+ donor siblings (16 women, 7 men, 1 non-binary person). Participants were ages 21-76 and from US (8), UK (7), Canada (5), and Germany (2).
Analysis Methods: Qualitative thematic
Key Findings:
Most participants were initially shocked and surprised when they learned about their many donor siblings, especially since this news often came at the same time they discovered they were donor-conceived.
Many participants struggled with feeling like just one of many "mass conceived" offspring, which challenged their sense of being unique individuals.
While they generally enjoyed forming relationships with their donor siblings and found these connections enriching, the sheer number of siblings created some difficulties. Some participants felt sad that they couldn't develop close relationships with all their siblings due to the large group size. Others felt overwhelmed by trying to keep up with so many relationships, manage social obligations, and handle unexpected situations that came up within such a large sibling group.
Some worried that having so many donor siblings meant they would have less chance of developing a meaningful relationship with their donor, since they would be competing with many others for the donor's attention and time.
Limitations: Small sample size. Experiences varied significantly.
Applications for Practice: Informs policy discussions on limiting offspring per donor.
Funding Source: Not specified
Lead Author: Sabrina Zeghiche (she/her) is a postdoctoral researcher in the department of social work at Université du Québec en Outaouais under the supervision of Isabel Côté. Her research interests are focused on issues related to transition to parenthood, more specifically, on perinatal loss and bereavement as well as donor conception.
Regulatory Context: Donor offspring limits vary across countries.