A Longitudinal Study of Families Created Using Egg Donation: Family Functioning at Age 5
Author team: Susan Imrie, Joanna Lysons, Sarah Foley, Vasanti Jadva, Kate Shaw, Jess Grimmel, Susan E. Golombok
What we did
This study spoke to families with 5 year olds who had been conceived by identity-release egg donation, and families created by IVF with the parents’ own gametes.
The study looked at:
the quality of relationships between parents and children |
parental psychological well-being, |
children’s adjustment |
What we found out
The study found that
Conception by egg donation (using an identifiable donor) contributed to greater challenges than IVF using the parents’ own gametes. |
Some assisted reproduction families may benefit from psychological support that continues beyond their child’s first year of life. |
Overall, the two types families had more similarities than differences. |
Scores on all measures of parent–child relationship quality and child psychological adjustment were within the normal range. |
Read the full paper
For further information about the study or for media enquiries, please contact cfr-admin@lists.cam.ac.uk