Kids curious about genetic dads

USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education), Feb, 2005

The vast majority of children born from open-identity sperm donors feel positively about their conception and simply are curious about their genetic fathers, according to a study by University of California-Davis psychologist Joanna Scheib. The adolescents, ages 12-17, were conceived by donors who allowed their identification to be given to their offspring at age 18.

The study is important because the first children conceived under open-identity conditions in the U.S. now are about 21 years old. A growing number of youngsters conceived through this method will be coming of age in the near future. "Parents are concerned about how their children will react when they learn they are not genetically related," Scheib says.

"This feedback reassures us that the vast majority are curious but not really looking for a father in the donor. The youths are more likely looking for information that tells more about themselves."

Scheib, who also is director of research for a Berkeley, Calif.-based sperm bank, reports that more than 30,000 children are born each year through donor insemination. The youngsters in the study, when told early about their origins, reacted similarly to how kids respond when they have been informed about their adopted status from a young age: they incorporate it as a matter of fact.

The study, which queried youths across the nation, found that most first learned how they were conceived between the ages of five and eight, and all knew by age 10.