Rd. Nachtigall et al., THE DISCLOSURE DECISION - CONCERNS AND ISSUES OF PARENTS OF CHILDREN CONCEIVED THROUGH DONOR INSEMINATION, American journal of obstetrics and gynecology, 178(6), 1998, pp. 1165-1168
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of our study was to examine the disclosure deci
sion by parents of children conceived by donor insemination. STUDY DES
IGN: A qualitative component of a self-administered questionnaire mail
ed to 184 couples who had become parents by donor insemination encoura
ged respondents to volunteer their written comments, concerns, or opin
ions about their disclosure decision. RESULTS: A total of 70 men and 8
6 women submitted written comments indicating that 54% did not plan to
disclose the donor insemination treatment (nondisclosers), 30% indica
ted they would (disclosers), and 16% remained undecided. The only sign
ificant relationship between the disclosure decision and expressed con
cern was with regard to confidentiality and honesty (chi(2) = 99.9, P
< 0.05).CONCLUSIONS: Whether parents viewed the disclosure issue as on
e of honesty (disclosers) or confidentiality (nondisclosers) was the m
ajor determinant in the decision of whether to tell children about the
ir donor insemination origin. There was no association between disclos
ure status or gender and expressed concerns about parenting, children,
or family relations.