Do attitudes toward disclosure in donor oocyte recipients predict the use of anonymous versus directed donation?

OBJECTIVE

To compare the demographic and psychological characteristics of oocyte recipients and to determine whether the issue of disclosure about the use of a donor is a correlate of the decision to use an anonymous or directed donor.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional study.

SETTING

University teaching hospital.

PATIENT(S): Ninety consecutive recipients of donated oocytes (64 of whom used anonymous donors and 26 of whom used directed donors).

INTERVENTION(S): Pretreatment psychosocial evaluation.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Recipient opinions and attitudes regarding the choice of donor type and disclosure to others as determined through a semistructured interview.

RESULT(S): There were no statistically significant differences with regard to demographic characteristics between recipients who used anonymous and directed donors. There were statistically significant differences between the groups with regard to the issue of disclosure. Recipients who used directed donors were more likely to have told others about using an oocyte donor and were more likely to indicate that they intended to inform the child about the nature of his or her conception.

CONCLUSION(S): Oocyte recipients who use known donors differ significantly from those who use anonymous donors with regard to the issue of disclosure to others. Further studies are needed to determine the causal direction of this relation.