Their mums think they are fine; teachers are not so sure

The
emotional well-being of children conceived through artificial reproductive
technology and their families, has long been a subject of debate. Now it
appears that relationships within such families appear to be functioning well,
and that there are few differences between them and families in whom children
were conceived naturally.

However,
IVF mothers tended to be more emotionally involved in their children and
slightly more indulgent, Polly Casey, from the Centre for Family Research at
Cambridge University, told an annual conference of the European Society of
Human Reproduction and Embryology. And although the mothers surveyed thought
their children were well-adjusted, their teachers painted a different picture.
They observed “a higher level of emotional difficulties” in the children,
although not significantly higher.

And like
other surveys, this one found that parents are reluctant to reveal their true
origins to their children. “At the time of the child’s seventh birthday, only
39% of egg donation parents, 29% of donor insemination parents, and 89% of
surrogacy parents had told their children about the nature of their conception.
This is markedly less than the proportion of parents who, when their child was
one year old, reported that they planned to disclose this information — 56%,
46% and 100% of egg donation, donor insemination and surrogacy parents
respectively," said Ms Casey. ~ Science
Daily, July 7

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Michael Cook

Michael Cook edits BioEdge, a bioethics newsletter, and MercatorNet, an on-line magazine whose focus is human dignity. He writes from Sydney, Australia.

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