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Centre for Family Research

 

Biography

I completed an ESRC-CHESS funded PhD in Psychology at the Centre for Family Research, University of Cambridge, under the supervision of Professor Susan Golombok.  I then took up a role as a post-doctoral research associate in the Centre, working on studies looking at children’s and parents’ experiences and relationships in families with trans parents, and families created using assisted reproduction.  I am also currently the Amy Whiteley Research Fellow at Newnham College.  L left the CFR in 2022 to take up a role elsewhere.

Before my PhD I worked for two years on an ESRC-funded study, led by Dr Vasanti Jadva, looking at the experiences and long-term psychological health of surrogate mothers and their families.  Prior to this I completed an MSc in Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire and worked as a parliamentary researcher.

Research

I am a developmental psychologist interested in family functioning in new family forms, with a focus on parent-child relationship quality, child development and children’s perceptions of their families.  My PhD thesis (2017) examined family functioning in infancy in families created through assisted reproductive technologies.  I am currently carrying out research with trans parent families in the UK, looking at parents’ and children’s experiences, relationships and psychological wellbeing.

For the academic year 2020-21, I will lecture on the following papers: PBS1 (Introduction to Psychology), PBS2 (Psychological Enquiry and Methods), PBS3 (Social and Developmental Psychology) and PBS4 (Cognitive Neuroscience and Experimental Psychology).  I am the course organiser for PBS8 (The Family).  

Publications

Key publications: 

Imrie, S. & Golombok, S. (2020) Impact of new family forms on parenting and child development. Annual Review of Developmental Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-devpsych-070220-122704

Imrie, S., Zadeh, S., Wylie, K., & Golombok, S. (2020). Children with trans parents: parent-child relationship quality and psychological well-being. Parenting: Science and Practice. https://doi.org/10.1080/15295192.2020.1792194

Imrie, S., Jadva, V., & Golombok, S. (2020). 'Making the child mine’: mothers’ thoughts and feelings about the mother-infant relationship in egg donation families. Journal of Family Psychology.   https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0000619.

Zadeh, S., Imrie, S., & Golombok, S. (2019). Stories of sameness and difference: The views and experiences of children and adolescents with a trans* parent. Journal of GLBT Family Studies.  https://doi.org/10.1080/1550428X.2019.1683785.

Imrie, S., Jadva, V. & Golombok, S. (2019). Psychological well-being of identity-release egg donation parents with infants. Human Reproduction. https://doi.org/10.1093/humrep/dez201.

Blake, B., Bland, B., & Imrie, S. (2019). The counselling experiences of individuals who are estranged from a family member. Family Relationshttps://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12385. 

Jadva, V., Vilsbol, T., Ayed, N., Imrie, S., Jones, C. M., Lamba, N. . . . Zadeh, S. (2019). The ART of performance: Engaging young people about Assisted Reproductive Technologies. International Journal of Science Education, Part B: Communication and Public Engagement.

Jadva, V., Gamble, N., Prosser, H., & Imrie., S. (2019). Parents’ relationship with their surrogate in cross-border and domestic surrogacy arrangements: Comparisons by sexual orientation and location.  Fertility and Sterility. 111(3), 562-570.

Imrie, S. & Golombok, S. (2018). Long-term outcomes of children conceived through egg donation and their parents: a review of the literature. Fertility & Sterility. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fertnstert.2018.08.040

Imrie, S., Jadva, V., Fishel, S. & Golombok, S. (2018). Families created by egg donation: parent-child relationship quality in infancy.  Child Development. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13124

Golombok, S., Zadeh, S., Imrie, S., Smith, V. & Freeman, T. (2016). Single mothers by choice: Mother–child relationships and children’s psychological adjustmentJournal of Family Psychology, 30(4), 409-418. doi: 10.1037/fam0000188.

Zadeh, S., Imrie, S. and Braverman, A. (2016). ‘Choosing’ a donor: Parents’ perspectives on current and future donor information provision in clinically-assisted reproduction. In S. Golombok, R. Scott, S. Wilkinson, M. Richards and J. Appleby (Eds.) Regulating Reproductive Donation. Cambridge University Press.

Jadva, V., Imrie, S., & Golombok, S. (2015). Surrogate mothers 10 years on: A longitudinal study of psychological well-being and relationships with the parents and child. Human Reproduction. doi:10.1093/humrep/deu339

Imrie, S. (2014). Subrogación en el Reino Unido: Experiencias y salud psicológica de gestantes subrogadas y sus familias. In F. Zegers and S. Salas (Eds.), Bioética, Reproducción y Familia. Universidad Diego Portales.

Imrie, S. & Jadva, V. (2014). The long-term experiences of surrogates: relationships and contact with surrogacy families in genetic and gestational surrogacy arrangements. Reproductive BioMedicine Online. doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rbmo.2014.06.004Shortlisted for the Robert G. Edwards Prize Paper Award 2014

Jadva, V. & Imrie, S. (2014). The significance of relatedness for surrogates and their families.  In T. Freeman, S. Graham, F. Ebtehaj & M. Richards (eds.) Relatedness in Assisted Reproduction: Families, Origins and Identities. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Jadva, V. & Imrie, S. (2013). Children of surrogate mothers: psychological well-being, family relationships and experiences of surrogacy. Human Reproduction. doi: 10.1093/humrep/det410

Imrie, S. & Jadva, V. (2013). Surrogacy law: A call for change?, Bionews.

Imrie, S. & Troop, N. (2012). A pilot study on the effects and feasibility of compassion-focused expressive writing in Day Hospice patients, Palliative and Supportive Care, 10 (2), 115-122.

Imrie, S. & Zadeh, S. (2012). Single women using donor insemination: Thoughts on the discussion of the latest findings from the Centre for Parenting Culture Studies, Bionews.

 

Presentations:

Imrie, S., Zadeh, S., & Golombok, S. (2019, October). Stories of sameness and difference: The views, experiences and outcomes of children and adolescents with a trans or gender nonconforming parent. Thomas Coram Research Unit Seminar Series. London, UK, (with S. Zadeh).

Imrie, S., Zadeh, S., & Golombok, S. (2019, July). Children with trans parents: Parent-child relationship quality and child psychological adjustment. IARR Mini Conference on Applied Relationship Science.  Brighton, UK.

Imrie, S. (2019, July). Disclosure of donor conception: should parents tell donor-conceived children about their origins? Children’s Rights: Families, Guidance and Evolving Capacities. Convention on the Rights of the Child Implementation Project: Article 5 Colloquium. Cambridge, UK.

Imrie, S. (2019, June). Parents’ and children’s outcomes and experiences in families created through surrogacy. Surrogacy Law Reform: Future Directions and Possibilities Conference. London, UK.

Imrie, S., Zadeh, S. & Golombok, S. (2019, Mar). "It's kind of a non-issue": Parent-child relationships and child adjustment in trans parent families, Society for Research in Child Development Biennial Meeting, Baltimore, USA.

Imrie, S. (2019, Jan). Families created through identity-release egg donation: What do we know so far? Fertility 2019 Conference, Birmingham.

Imrie, S. (2018, Nov). Modern families: are the kids alright? Newnham College Pudding Seminar Series. Cambridge, UK.

Imrie, S., Jadva, V. & Golombok, S. (2018, Oct). Parent-infant relationship quality in families created by egg donation.  Annual Meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine Conference, Denver, USA.

Imrie, S., Zadeh, S., & Golombok, S. (2018. July) *Trans parents and their children: An exploratory study of experiences inside and outside the family. Division of Gender, Sexuality and Health, NYS Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University Department of Psychiatry, New York, USA, (with S. Golombok and S. Zadeh).

Imrie, S., Zadeh, S., & Golombok, S. (2018, July). Child psychological adjustment and parent-child relationship quality in families with trans parents.  Paper presented at the British Psychological Society Psychology of Sexualities Conference, London, UK.

Imrie, S. (2017, Sept). Making the child mine: an exploration of mothers’ representations of non-genetic mother-infant relationships in families formed through egg donation.  Paper presented at the Society for Reproductive and Infant Psychology Conference, York, UK.

Imrie, S., Jadva, V., & Golombok, S. (2017, June).  Relationships between fathers’ reflective functioning and father-infant interaction quality in IVF families.  Paper presented at the International Attachment Conference, London, UK.    

Imrie, S., Jadva, V., & Golombok, S. (2017, April) Non-genetic motherhood: the quality of the mother-child relationship in infancy in families formed through egg donation.  Paper presented at the Society for Research in Child Development Biennial Meeting, Austin, USA.

Imrie, S., Jadva, V. & Golombok, S. (2016, July) Identity-release egg donation in the UK: parents' disclosure decisions and thoughts about the donor.  Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology, Helsinki, Finland.

Imrie, S., Evans, S., Jadva, V. & Golombok, S. (2015, October) Families created through egg donation: parental psychological health and quality of parenting in infancy.  Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, Baltimore, USA.

Imrie, S. & Jadva, V. (2014, April) Surrogacy in the UK: 14 years of psychological research with surrogates and with families created through surrogacy (Gestation pour autrui en Grande-Bretagne: Quatorze années de recherche psychologique avec les gestatrices, et avec les familles créées grâce au recours à une GPA ).  Paper presented at 7ème Colloque International de l’Association C.L.A.R.A, Paris, France.

Imrie, S. & Jadva, V. (2014, March) Surrogates' long-term experiences, relationships and contact arrangements with surrogacy families. Paper presented at Families Through Surrogacy Conference, Windsor, UK.

Imrie, S. & Jadva, V. (2013, November) The experiences and psychological health of surrogate mothers and their families. Paper presented at 'Reproducion Medicamente Asistida: un desafio a la estructura de la familia' Conference, Santiago, Chile.

Imrie, S., Jadva, V. & Golombok, S. (2013, July) Surrogate mothers: Contact and relationships with families created through surrogacy.  Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology, London, UK.

Imrie, S., Jadva, V. & Golombok, S. (2012, October) The long-term psychological health of surrogate mothers and their families. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, San Diego, USA.

Imrie, S., Jadva, V. & Golombok, S. (2012, September) Surrogate mothers and their families.  Paper presented at Understanding Parenting: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives, University of Warwick.

Imrie, S., Jadva, V. & Golombok, S. (2012, January) Children of surrogate mothers: An investigation into their experiences and psychological health.  Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the British Fertility Society, Leeds, UK.

Imrie, S. (2011, November) An investigation into the impact of surrogacy on the children of surrogate mothers.  Paper presented at the Interdisciplinary Workshop on Reproduction, Cambridge, UK.

 

 

University Lecturer
Research Associate
Amy Whiteley Research Fellow, Newnham College
Not available for consultancy

Affiliations

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