How do female-partnered mothers deal with the third-party involved in their reproductive arrangement? The aim of this study is to identify the meaning-making of the sperm donor, exploring different patterns between genetic and non-genetic mothers, as well as between open-identity and anonymous donation. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 24 Italian female-partnered mothers, who at the time of data collection had at least one donor-conceived child. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was performed to identify emergent themes. None of the mothers considered the donor as the father of their child. Three patterns of thoughts and feelings recurred: ‘donor as an entity’, ‘donor as a medical process’, ‘donor as a person’. Genetic and non-genetic mothers constructed shared meanings regarding the donor. Mothers who opted for anonymous donors were more likely to describe the donor as an entity and as a medical process compared with mothers who opted for open-identity donors. Different images of the donor lay beneath each meaning: respectively, donor as a ghost, donor as a place, donor as a kind man. Findings offer important insights for healthcare providers working in fertility clinics. They further suggest the most appropriate terms for third-party reproduction and specific psychological counselling needs of prospective female-partnered mothers.

‘It's a bit too much fathering this seed’. The meaning-making of the sperm donor in Italian lesbian mother families / Lingiardi, Vittorio; Carone, Nicola; Morelli, Mara; Baiocco, Roberto. - In: REPRODUCTIVE BIOMEDICINE ONLINE. - ISSN 1472-6483. - STAMPA. - 33:3(2016), pp. 412-424. [10.1016/j.rbmo.2016.06.007]

‘It's a bit too much fathering this seed’. The meaning-making of the sperm donor in Italian lesbian mother families

LINGIARDI, Vittorio
Primo
Supervision
;
CARONE, NICOLA
Secondo
Writing – Original Draft Preparation
;
MORELLI, MARA
Penultimo
Membro del Collaboration Group
;
BAIOCCO, ROBERTO
Ultimo
Supervision
2016

Abstract

How do female-partnered mothers deal with the third-party involved in their reproductive arrangement? The aim of this study is to identify the meaning-making of the sperm donor, exploring different patterns between genetic and non-genetic mothers, as well as between open-identity and anonymous donation. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 24 Italian female-partnered mothers, who at the time of data collection had at least one donor-conceived child. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was performed to identify emergent themes. None of the mothers considered the donor as the father of their child. Three patterns of thoughts and feelings recurred: ‘donor as an entity’, ‘donor as a medical process’, ‘donor as a person’. Genetic and non-genetic mothers constructed shared meanings regarding the donor. Mothers who opted for anonymous donors were more likely to describe the donor as an entity and as a medical process compared with mothers who opted for open-identity donors. Different images of the donor lay beneath each meaning: respectively, donor as a ghost, donor as a place, donor as a kind man. Findings offer important insights for healthcare providers working in fertility clinics. They further suggest the most appropriate terms for third-party reproduction and specific psychological counselling needs of prospective female-partnered mothers.
2016
family planning; lesbian parenting; medically assisted procreation; psychological counselling; transnational sperm donation
01 Pubblicazione su rivista::01a Articolo in rivista
‘It's a bit too much fathering this seed’. The meaning-making of the sperm donor in Italian lesbian mother families / Lingiardi, Vittorio; Carone, Nicola; Morelli, Mara; Baiocco, Roberto. - In: REPRODUCTIVE BIOMEDICINE ONLINE. - ISSN 1472-6483. - STAMPA. - 33:3(2016), pp. 412-424. [10.1016/j.rbmo.2016.06.007]
File allegati a questo prodotto
File Dimensione Formato  
Lingiardi_It's-a-bit-too_2016.pdf

solo utenti autorizzati

Note: Articolo principale
Tipologia: Documento in Post-print (versione successiva alla peer review e accettata per la pubblicazione)
Licenza: Tutti i diritti riservati (All rights reserved)
Dimensione 812.51 kB
Formato Adobe PDF
812.51 kB Adobe PDF   Contatta l'autore

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11573/909222
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? 5
  • Scopus 28
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 20
social impact