The experiences of adolescents and adults conceived by sperm donation: Comparisons by age of disclosure and family type

Abstract BACKGROUND This study presents findings from a large sample of donor offspring who are aware of the nature of their conception. Importantly, this is one of the first studies to compare the views of offspring told of their origins during childhood to those who found out during adulthood. METHODS Online questionnaires were completed anonymously by donor offspring who were members of the Donor Sibling Registry, a US-based worldwide registry that helps donor-conceived individuals search for and contact their donor and donor siblings (i.e. half-siblings). Data were obtained on offspring’s feelings about being donor conceived and their feelings towards their parents. RESULTS Offspring of single mothers and lesbian couples learnt of their donor origins earlier than offspring of heterosexual couples. Those told later in life reported more negative feelings regarding their donor conception than those told earlier. Offspring’s feelings towards their parents were less clear, with some of those told later reporting more positive feelings and others reporting more negative feelings. Offspring from heterosexual-couple families were more likely to feel angry at being lied to by their mothers than by their fathers. The most common feeling towards fathers was ‘sympathetic’. CONCLUSIONS Age of disclosure is important in determining donor offspring’s feelings about their donor conception. It appears it is less detrimental for children to be told about their donor conception at an early age.Supported by the Nuffield Foundation, U

Depression and Sexual Orientation During Young Adulthood: Diversity Among Sexual Minority Subgroups and the Role of Gender Nonconformity.

Sexual minority individuals are at an elevated risk for depression compared to their heterosexual counterparts, yet less is known about how depression status varies across sexual minority subgroups (i.e., mostly heterosexuals, bisexuals, and lesbians and gay men). Moreover, studies on the role of young adult gender nonconformity in the relation between sexual orientation and depression are scarce and have yielded mixed findings. The current study examined the disparities between sexual minorities and heterosexuals during young adulthood in concurrent depression near the beginning of young adulthood and prospective depression 6 years later, paying attention to the diversity within sexual minority subgroups and the role of gender nonconformity. Drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (N = 9421), we found that after accounting for demographics, sampling weight, and sampling design, self-identified mostly heterosexual and bisexual young adults, but not lesbians and gay men, reported significantly higher concurrent depression compared to heterosexuals; moreover, only mostly heterosexual young adults were more depressed than heterosexuals 6 years later. Furthermore, while young adult gender nonconforming behavior was associated with more concurrent depression regardless of sexual orientation, its negative impact on mental health decreased over time. Surprisingly, previous gender nonconformity predicted decreased prospective depression among lesbians and gay men whereas, among heterosexual individuals, increased gender nonconformity was not associated with prospective depression. Together, the results suggested the importance of investigating diversity and the influence of young adult gender nonconformity in future research on the mental health of sexual minorities.The authors acknowledge support for this research: the University of Arizona Norton School of Family and Consumer Sciences Fitch Nesbitt Endowment and a University of Arizona Graduate Access Fellowship to the second author. This research uses data from Add Health, a program project directed by Kathleen Mullan Harris and designed by J. Richard Udry, Peter S. Bearman, and Kathleen Mullan Harris at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and funded by grant P01-HD31921 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, with cooperative funding from 23 other federal agencies and foundations. Special acknowledgment is due Ronald R. Rindfuss and Barbara Entwisle for assistance in the original design. Information on how to obtain the Add Health data files is available on the Add Health website (http://​www.​cpc.​unc.​edu/​addhealth). No direct support was received from grant P01-HD31921 for this analysis. The authors thank Noel Card and Susan Stryker for comments on the previous versions of this article and Richard Lippa and Katerina Sinclair for methodological and statistical consult. The authors also thank the anonymous reviewers and the Editor for their helpful comments.This is the accepted manuscript of a paper published in Archives of Sexual Behavior (Li G, Pollitt AM, Russell ST, Archives of Sexual Behavior 2015, doi:10.1007/s10508-015-0515-3). The final version is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10508-015-0515-3

Experiences of offspring searching for and contacting their donor siblings and donor

This study investigates a new phenomenon whereby individuals conceived by donor insemination are searching for and contacting their donor and/or ‘donor siblings’ (i.e. donor offspring conceived by the same donor who are their genetic half siblings). On-line questionnaires were completed by members of the Donor Sibling Registry (DSR), a US-based registry that facilitates contact between donor conception families who share the same donor. Of the 165 donor offspring who completed the survey, 15% were searching for their donor siblings, 13% were searching for their donor, and 64% were searching for both. Differences were found according to family type and age of disclosure. Fewer offspring from heterosexual couple families had told their father about their search when compared with offspring from lesbian couple families who had told their co-parent. Offspring who had found out about their conception after age 18 were more likely to be searching for medical reasons, whereas those who had found out before age 18 tended to be searching out of curiosity. Some offspring had discovered large numbers of half siblings (maximum = 13). The majority of offspring who had found their donor relations reported positive experiences and remained in regular contact with them.We are grateful to The Nuffield Foundation, UK, for funding this research

Same-sex sexual attraction does not spread in adolescent social networks

Peers have a powerful effect on adolescents' beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors. Here, we examine the role of social networks in the spread of attitudes towards sexuality using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). Although we found evidence that both sexual activity (OR = 1.79) and desire to have a romantic relationship (OR = 2.69) may spread from person to person, attraction to same sex partners did not spread (OR = 0.96). Analyses of comparable power to those that suggest positive and significant peer-to-peer influence in sexual behavior fail to demonstrate a significant relationship on sexual attraction between friends or siblings. These results suggest that peer influence has little or no effect on the tendency toward heterosexual or homosexual attraction in teens, and that sexual orientation is not transmitted via social networks

Relations of Anxiety Sensitivity, Control Beliefs, and Maternal Over-Control to Fears in Clinic-Referred Children with Specific Phobia

The relations of fear to anxiety sensitivity, control beliefs, and maternal overprotection were examined in 126 7- to 13-year-old clinically referred children with specific phobias. Results indicated that anxiety sensitivity and control beliefs were significant predictors of children’s fear levels, accounting for approximately 48% of the total variance. Unexpectedly, age, gender, and maternal overprotection did not emerge as significant predictors of fear in the overall sample. In subsequent analyses, anxiety sensitivity was found to be a consistent, significant predictor for both girls and boys, for both younger and older children, and for children with and without an additional anxiety disorder diagnosis. Control beliefs were only a significant predictor for girls, younger children, and children with an additional anxiety diagnosis. Maternal overprotection was not a significant predictor for any group. Children with an additional anxiety disorder diagnosis had higher levels of fear, anxiety sensitivity, and maternal overprotection, as well as lower levels of control beliefs than the non-additional anxiety disorder subgroup. Future directions and clinical implications are explored

Familiarly queer? Same-sex relationships and family formation

This book explores recent trends and developments in family formation in Australia, drawing largely on data from the 2011 Australian Census and ten years of data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey