The first segment of this series introduced the disclosure topic and linked to our first of three surveys. There were a total of 17 respondents with the results examined below.

Survey Results: “Imagine You Are an Embryo Donor”

1. If you were an embryo donor, which would you prefer (choose only one)?

• I would prefer an Anonymous Embryo Donation process.            18% (3/17)
• I would prefer an Approved Embryo Donation process.                41% (7/17)
• I would prefer an Open Embryo Donation process.                         41% (7/17)

Comments:

Anonymous and Approved Embryo Donation procedures together were only slightly preferred over Open Embryo Donation. It would appear those answering the question wanted to know more about the recipients than a simple anonymous process would provide.

2. If I donated my embryos, I would tell the following:

Relationship	Yes	No	N/A (not alive or no current relationship)
My parents	71% (12/17)	29% (5/17)	0% (0/17)
My in-laws	47% (8/17)	41% (7/17)	12% (2/17)
My siblings	59% (10/17)	24% (4/17)	17% (3/17)
My children	65% (11/17)	29% (5/17)	6% (1/17)
My friends	65% (11/17)	35% (6/17)	0% (0/17)
Average:	61% (52/85)	32% (27/85)	7% (6/85)

Comments:

Twice as many respondents would tell family and friends about donating their embryos than would not tell. Embryo donors have previously stated telling friends and family might result in harsh judgments from those who didn’t fully understand their motivations for donation. This concern for judgment may have been reflected by the fact that in-laws were the least frequently told group in the poll above.

3. Would you want to have the embryo donation offspring told that they came from donated embryos?

• Yes                          47% (8/17)
• No                           18% (3/17)
• Not certain              35% (6/17)

Comments:

About half of the donors would want the offspring told they were from donated embryos. The other half was uncertain or definitely would not disclose. The uncertain group may gravitate towards nondisclosure over time unless committed to disclosure process early.

4. If I choose an Anonymous or Approved Embryo Donation process (both are still anonymous), I would prefer (choose only one):

• To remaining Anonymous:                                                                                                       12% (2/17)
• Be initially Anonymous with the possibility of Open-Identity at Any Age:                                 59% (10/17)
• Be initially Anonymous with the possibility of Open-Identity at 18+ Years of Age:                  29% (5/17)

Comments:

About 88% wanted an Open-Identity process. The respondents also wanted offspring to have the ability to contact donors when the children were younger than 18 by two-to-one over those wanting Open-Identity at 18 years of age or older. This is very different than what is currently done with adoption.

5. If I choose the Open Embryo Donation process, I would prefer:

• Open Embryo Donation with Open-Identity at Any Age:                          71% (12/17)
• Open Embryo Donation with Open-Identity at 18+ Years of Age:            29% (  5/17)

Comments:

Consistent with question four, the respondents wanted Open-Identity younger than 18 years of age, which is very different from what is done in the adoption world.

Thank you for your input. Tomorrow we will release the next installment of this series – Disclosure Issues From the Perspective of the Embryo Donor. We’ll also launch our next survey this week as well and hope you will give us your feedback.