Donor conception: Unmet Support and Parental Stress Predict Parents’ Mental Health and Their Children’s Functioning

• In Event: Child’s attachment and Functioning, Coparenting, and Parents’ Needs in Gay, Lesbian, and Heterosexual Parent Families

Abstract

Introduction: Donor conception with semen from a later identifiable donor from a sperm bank might raise several concerns for parents during a child’s life (e.g., will the child bond with the non-genetic parent, how to disclose donor conception). Little is known about whether parents (two-mother families, father-mother families and single mothers) find support for their concerns and what the possible consequences of their unmet support needs are.
Hypotheses: In this study we examined whether parents’ unmet needs for support from professionals, peers, families and friends were related to their parenting stress and mental health and whether parenting stress and mental health were mediating the associations between unmet support needs and their child’ functioning.
Study population: 67 mothers from two-mother families, 85 parents from father-mother families and 62 single mothers with donor-conceived offspring (Mage=3.64, SD=2.03) were recruited through network organizations and fertility clinics.
Method: Parents filled out a questionnaire about their concerns, support needs and whether these were met, their mental health (ASR), child functioning (CBCL) and parenting stress (OBVL). We used R Packages Lavaan to test the mediation model, taking into account the three family types.
Results: Parents with more unmet needs on the three types of support had also more mental health problems. Parents’ mental health mediated the negative relationship between parents unmet needs for – all types of - support and the functioning of their children. Specifically, unmet needs for professional support were positively related to parental stress, which in turn negatively influenced the mental health of the parents and through that the functioning of their children

Authors

• Floor Van Rooij, University of Amsterdam
  Presenting Author

• Anne Schrijvers, Amsterdam University Medical Center
  Non-Presenting Author

• Kees Jan Kan, University of Amsterdam
  Non-Presenting Author

• F van der Veen, Amsterdam University Medical Center
  Non-Presenting Author

• M. Visser, Amsterdam UMC
  Non-Presenting Author

• Henny Bos, Universiteit van Amsterdam (UvA)
  Non-Presenting Author

• M.H. Mochtar, Amsterdam UMC
  Non-Presenting Author