A Cross-cultural Perspective on Mothers’ Attitudes on Sharing Information with the Teachers on Which Child Has Been Conceived by Egg Donation

Abstract

There is now a growing body of research examining psychological aspects of children born as a result of Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ARTs), in particular via egg donation. Some research suggests that concealment of children’s biological origins may affect their psychological development. Hence, there is current debate to decide how widely details about children’s conception should be disclosed to the public in particular to those involved in the education of children. Some parents maintain that the school should be informed so that teachers can offer support to children that reveal details about their origin. Others think this information should be kept private. The present study is focused on the debate as to whether the private information about the children’s conception should be shared with their teachers. This will be studied from the point of view of mothers with naturally conceived children and mothers of children born as a result of egg donation. Furthermore, the topic will be investigated from a cross-cultural perspective. Mothers of children born as a result of egg donation from Iran (N =4) and Britain (N =4), overall mean age = 39.37, and 69 mothers with naturally conceived children from Iran (N = 33) and Britain (N = 36), overall mean age = 36.79, were asked if they would agree that information about how their child was born should be shared with their teachers. The results were an overwhelming disagreement from all women that this information should be shared with teachers. However, Iranian women with naturally born children differed from their British counterparts in being relatively more positive on this subject, possibly an indication that they do not agree with conception via egg donation. The implications of the results are discussed.

Keywords: Cross-cultural, Children’s conception, Egg Donation, Education