Young Adults Study Survey, 2022

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The Young Adults Study Survey is a nationwide survey that was conducted to understand more about wellbeing, identity and social experiences among donor conceived people in the UK, with a focus on young adults aged between 18-30. The survey also examined on experiences of searching for and finding genetic connections through donation.

The number of children conceived using donated gametes in the UK is consistently increasing each year. As diverse paths to parenthood become increasingly well-trodden, gaining greater scientific understanding of the experiences and outcomes of those who are donor-conceived is vital. Building upon my previous research on the perspectives of donor-conceived children and adolescents, the proposed research will investigate the experiences and outcomes of donor-conceived young adults, a group that has yet to be the focus of systematic study. Understanding the experiences and outcomes of those who are donor-conceived as they move into adulthood is important, not least because it is now generally established that it is during the ages of 18-25 that people develop a real sense of who they are and where they belong. The proposed project will therefore investigate the importance and impact of donor conception on the identities, experiences and well-being of young adults. It will seek to understand how those who are donor-conceived navigate the social world at this particular stage in their development: from attending freshers' week events at university, to attending regular check-ups at the doctors. The proposed research aims to address these issues by using a range of social scientific theories and methods that will put the perspectives of donor-conceived young adults at the forefront of the research agenda. Collecting data from 240 participants in total, including donor-conceived young adults and a control group of those conceived in more traditional circumstances, the research will employ both qualitative and quantitative methods that together allow for both the in-depth investigation of individual experiences, and group comparisons on a range of as yet unstudied psychological and social dimensions. The project has been designed to address the concerns raised about the representative nature of previous research on donor-conceived adults, which has either collected data from individuals who found out about their conception in challenging circumstances and feel negatively about this, or administered questionnaires to individuals registered on online platforms for identifying genetic relatives. The proposed research will also significantly extend the knowledge gained from previous studies of the psychological well-being of donor-conceived children and adolescents, which do not provide information on later development. Finally, the proposed research will move beyond previous scholarship that has primarily focussed on within-family factors. This is important, because little is yet known about the relationship between the social experiences of donor-conceived people and their well-being, although studies of the social climate indicate that donor conception remains socially stigmatised, and research on other topics has highlighted the negative consequences of such stigma for psychological health. This research has been designed in consultation with the Donor Conception Network, the first and largest community-based network in the UK for donor conception families. Beyond being of significant scientific merit, the proposed research therefore responds to the needs of the donor conception community in general, and to the needs of donor-conceived young adults in particular. In 2023, the first cohort of young donor-conceived adults will reach the age at which they can legally identify the donors involved in their conception. Developing appropriate mechanisms to support these young adults through donor identifiability clearly requires an initial understanding of what it is like to be a young donor-conceived adult in Britain today. The proposed research will thus generate novel, and timely, insights that will not only lead to scientific discoveries that are of clear general interest, but will also inform the development of important resources that will benefit people conceived using donated gametes, both now, and in the future.