Donor-Linking Provisions in New Zealand: Counselling Roles, Concerns and Needs.

Date
2024-04-25
Authors
Goedeke, Sonja
Gamble, Heather
Supervisor
Item type
Journal Article
Degree name
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Informa UK Limited
Abstract

Donor-linking where those genetically related through donor conception (e.g. donor-conceived persons (DCP), donors and siblings), or recipient parents, search for and connect with each other, is increasingly common, both in identity-release jurisdictions where donors' identifying information may be released to DCP, usually when they become adults - and in anonymous jurisdictions, e.g. as a result of direct-to-consumer DNA testing. In this paper, we explore New Zealand fertility clinic counsellors' views regarding their donor-linking roles and their concerns and needs in relation to current and anticipated service provision. Counsellors believed that fertility service providers had a longer-term responsibility to offer donor-linking services to ensure the wellbeing of all parties affected by donor conception. They perceived their role as complex and multifaceted, encompassing psychoeducation, mediation, advocacy, facilitation, relationship counselling, and therapeutic intervention. They identified significant service provision challenges however, including inadequate staffing, training, time and prioritisation of donor-linking, and inadequate legislative provisions to support practice. Counsellors called for clarity in legislation addressing different contexts of donation and providing measures to ensure the recording of and access to identifying information. They expressed a need for comprehensive, funded donor-linking services, therefore facilitating choice, and services staffed by professionally trained and supported staff.

Description
Keywords
Donor-linking , clinical practice , concerns , counselling , needs , 3215 Reproductive Medicine , 32 Biomedical and Clinical Sciences , 7.1 Individual care needs , 7 Management of diseases and conditions , 1103 Clinical Sciences , 1114 Paediatrics and Reproductive Medicine , Obstetrics & Reproductive Medicine , 3215 Reproductive medicine
Source
Hum Fertil (Camb), ISSN: 1464-7273 (Print); 1742-8149 (Online), Informa UK Limited, 27(1), 2343718-. doi: 10.1080/14647273.2024.2343718
Rights statement
© 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.