Researchers at the University of Western Australia are investigating the reasons why people choose to tell or not tell members of their family and wider social network about their involvement in donor conception and are seeking participants in their study.

Who can participate?

Anyone who has participated in any type of donor conception programme (current or past):

Decision tool

This is an interactive decision tool for what to do with unused embryos to assist with decision-making for people who are having difficulty making their mind up. Decision tools are commonly used in other areas of health care to help patients resolve difficult choices around possible treatment options. Decision tools have not been used previously to assist with decision-making regarding unused embryos.

Twenty years after donating sperm at the Queen Victoria Hospital in Melbourne, Carl* learnt that he had two donor daughters.

The news came as a surprise. Years earlier Carl had been informed that no children had been born from his donation. But the revised information, delivered in 2006, revealed that two girls were born in the late 1980s at another clinic, which had used sperm donated at the Queen Victoria.

The ‘Donor conception: towards openness’ exhibition, which is currently showing at the City Library Gallery, Flinders Lane, Melbourne, is more than worth a visit.

The exhibition offers a moving collection of art, photography and archival material that inspires a range of emotional responses.  Striking photographs are accompanied by summaries of the person or people pictured; many of the summaries are poignant, some are joyful, all are touching.