Psychological factors related to donor insemination.

OBJECTIVE

To survey a sample of couples who had completed therapeutic donor insemination (TDI) regarding several psychological variables.

DESIGN

Couples who had conceived through TDI in the past 7 years completed a retrospective survey.

PARTICIPANTS

Thirty-five of seventy couples returned completed questionnaires.

MEASURES

Demographic questionnaire, TDI, and confidentiality questionnaire (created for this study), Dyadic Adjustment Scale.

RESULTS

The majority of the subjects told at least one person about the TDI but 81% of subjects who told someone reported that, if they had to do it over again, they would tell no one. Eighty-six percent reported that they have not and will not tell the child. Time from diagnosis to beginning TDI was not correlated with marital adjustment after TDI. Overall, the couples reported average marital adjustment. For both men and women, the biggest concern was the genetic/medical history of the donor. Most couples did not have psychological counseling, but 39% thought it should be mandatory.

CONCLUSIONS

Retrospectively, most couples regretted telling others about TDI. Most couples do not plan to tell the TDI child about its genetic origin. The major concern about TDI is the genetic and medical background of the donor. Psychological counseling should be available to couples undergoing TDI.