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‘Making the child mine’: mothers’ thoughts and feelings about the mother-infant relationship in egg donation families

Published version
Peer-reviewed

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Authors

Imrie, Susan 

Abstract

The number of families being created through fertility treatment with donor eggs is increasing yearly. Women who conceive in this way share a gestational, but not genetic, relationship with their child, yet there is limited understanding of how mothers experience the mother-child relationship during its formative period, infancy. This study explored heterosexual mothers’ thoughts and feelings about the mother-infant relationship in families created through egg donation. Qualitative interviews were conducted with a sample of 85 women who had conceived following egg donation treatment at UK fertility clinics. Mothers had at least one infant (6-18 months) and were living with the child’s father. Interview data were analysed according to the principles of thematic analysis. The results showed that egg donation mothers used a range of strategies across the transition to parenthood which enabled them to establish their identity as the child’s mother and facilitated the process of helping them feel that the baby was their own. This process was individual to each woman, with the absent genetic connection varying in significance between mothers. The strategies employed enabled most mothers to adjust successfully to parenthood and manage any ambivalence and uncertainties associated with non-genetic parenthood. Most mothers felt secure and confident in their position as the child’s mother by the end of the first year.

Description

Keywords

egg donation, assisted reproductive technology, gamete donation, infancy, mother-infant relationship

Journal Title

Journal of Family Psychology

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

0893-3200
1939-1293

Volume Title

34

Publisher

APA
Sponsorship
Wellcome Trust (097857/Z/11/Z)
ESRC (1233856)
Wellcome Trust (208013/Z/17/Z)
his research was supported by a Wellcome Trust Senior Investigator Award [097857/Z/11/Z] and a CHESS-ESRC studentship