Introduction

Sperm or egg donation has never been the primary option of a way to have children, yet it can be seen optimistically. Parents who conceive children through egg or sperm donation are very readily motivated to have a baby. In addition to this, any child born through egg or sperm donation most of the times feel confident that he or she was very much wanted unlike a lot of children who are conceived without medical help. His or her parents must have overcome many hurdles to reach there. It is a fact that children born through sperm donation are generally surrounded by love and extremely cherished. Due to this, the likelihood that they grow up in good physical as well as psychological health is really high.

The Dilemma

There are different points of view which exist on this issue. Some support the disclosure while other people think otherwise. Those who support disclosure assert that every individual has the right and is interested in knowing about his or her own biological origin. They also assert that it is an important part of open and fair interaction with children. It also helps in avoiding secrecy in family life, which, at times, generates stress between the relationships of those family members who don't know about the conception and those who do. Moreover, if the child is told about his or her origin by the parents at an initial age then it prevents the risk of the child finding out by accident. They may get angry at the silence, or may feel the breakdown in trust at not having been told before. This feeling can have a far greater emotional impact than if the parents had simply told them the facts (Ehrensaft, 176).

Most professionals and fertility organizations recommend the parents to be honest and open to the child about its origins right from the beginning. Leeb-Lundberg et al in their article “Helping parents to tell their children about the use of donor insemination (DI) and determining their opinions about open-identity sperm donors.” (2006) support this viewpoint. They believe that by bringing the message in a normal and positive way, one can make it easier for a young child to understand that he or she is especially loved because his or her parents had to try so hard to give birth to a baby. As the time moves on, one can put in more information suitable for your child's age.

On the other hand, one may choose not to tell his or her child, and there are decent reasons for this too. One may think that his or her child will become confused and insecure if you explain that mother /father is not his or her genetic mother/father. This disclosure may well lead to the child wanting to find the donor. Another reason for not telling is that one may wish to avoid insensitive remarks or questions to yourself and to your child about who is the “true” mother/father (Glazer, 221).

Michael L. Eisenberg et al in their article ...