Donor-Conceived Families: Preparing Your Family for the Future

14th April 2017 in Advice

This information was correct at the time of publishing. It may not reflect our current practices, prices or regulations.

At Manchester Fertility we’ve helped many people to have a family with the help of our egg donors. Donor-conceived families are special in more ways than one, including explaining to donor-conceived children how they came to be born, discovering donor siblings, and learning about the egg donor.

We discuss all of these topics with all of our egg donor recipient patients undergoing treatment with donor eggs, and their partners if needed, as part of the counselling that’s included when you have treatment with us.

Our counsellors ensure you have a thorough understanding of the matters donor-conceived families may face in the future, and how you can approach these with sensitivity and confidence:

Telling a donor-conceived child how they came to be born

We always advise an open approach and recommend that children are told about their origins as soon as you feel the time is right. Along with our counsellors’ expert advice, London-based Donor Conception Network has useful guidance and books to help you, including children’s storybooks. Remember that using donor eggs shouldn’t be thought of as taboo - someone very special helped you to have your baby, your family was simply made in a different way.

Finding out who the egg donor is

As a recipient patient, you’re never given any details about your egg donor that could tell you who she is. Anonymity is intact between recipient and egg donor. But it’s different for your child. Your child has the right to find out identifying details about their egg donor from the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) where all egg donors are registered, when they turn 18. This is so they can explore their hereditary origins, if they wish to know. All Manchester Fertility egg donors are fully identifiable, and have been implications counselled so they know that contact in future is a possibility and are prepared for it.

Discovering donor siblings

Both you and your donor-conceived child can find out if there are any genetically-related brothers and sisters from the same egg donor. As a parent, you are able to apply to the HFEA to find out the number of children born from your egg donor, the gender of each child and the year of birth. You won’t be given any identifying details however; the information is supplied so you tell your child in future that they have donor siblings. You can find out more about how to apply here.

When your child reaches 18, he or she has the option to join the HFEA’s Donor Sibling Link. It’s a register that connects donor-related people through mutual consent, giving them the opportunity to meet if it’s something they wish to do.

Treatment with donor eggs: Personal support

You’ll always be personally cared for when you have your baby using donor eggs. Your support network includes our fertility consultants, counsellors, dedicated donation team, fertility nurses and midwife care for early pregnancy. We won’t just help you along your journey to parenthood, we’ll help you prepare for your special family, so you can look to the future with reassurance.

Speak to our donation team on 0161 300 2737 if you’d like to have treatment with donor eggs.

You can start your treatment with us now - our own egg donor programme and donor bank means we have no waiting list for donor eggs and can give you a choice of health-screened UK egg donors.

Last updated: 21st January 2020