Relative strangers: Negotiating non-genetic kinship in the context of assisted conception
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Manchester
Department Name: Social Sciences
Abstract
Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.
Organisations
Publications
Nordqvist P
(2014)
Troubling the family: coming out as lesbian and gay
in Families, Relationships and Societies
Nordqvist P
(2012)
'I don't want us to stand out more than we already do': Lesbian couples negotiating family connections in donor conception
in Sexualities
Nordqvist P
(2019)
Un/familiar connections: on the relevance of a sociology of personal life for exploring egg and sperm donation.
in Sociology of health & illness
Nordqvist P
(2012)
Origins and originators: lesbian couples negotiating parental identities and sperm donor conception.
in Culture, health & sexuality
Nordqvist P
(2015)
"I've Redeemed Myself by Being a 1950s 'Housewife' ": Parent-Grandparent Relationships in the Context of Lesbian Childbirth.
in Journal of family issues
Nordqvist P
(2011)
Choreographies of sperm donations: dilemmas of intimacy in lesbian couple donor conception.
in Social science & medicine (1982)
Nordqvist P
(2021)
Telling Reproductive Stories: Social Scripts, Relationality and Donor Conception
in Sociology
Nordqvist P
(2014)
The Drive for Openness in Donor Conception: Disclosure and The Trouble with Real Life
in International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family
Nordqvist P
(2013)
Bringing Kinship into Being: Connectedness, Donor Conception and Lesbian Parenthood
in Sociology
Nordqvist P
(2010)
Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Family Resemblances in Lesbian Donor Conception
in Sociology
| Title | Challenges facing lesbian couples starting a family using donor sperm |
| Description | In this video, Dr Petra Nordqvist discusses some of the challenges facing lesbian couples who decide to start a family. These challenges include: - deciding whether to go through a fertility clinic or arrange sperm donation - through a friend or via the internet - legal considerations of both options - potential challenges arising from the lack of recognition in society for two-mother families. |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2013 |
| Impact | This video has been viewed 954 times to 4 November 2014. This together with our other videos on the project were viewed 6,334 times between 2012-2015. |
| URL | http://youtu.be/YB6MhxPFnsM?list=PLvRUyisSeWeCwAbMXQBr9GwIyElKLTVro |
| Title | Grandparents and their role in the donor conception process |
| Description | In this video, Carol Smart discusses the important, and often overlooked, role that grandparents often play when their children are going through the process of donor conception. Grandparents often provide crucial support at a difficult time, but may be under their own pressures. For example, they may have to keep the information secret from friends and other family and they may not share exactly the same views and opinions on the matter as their children. We recommend better provision of both practical information and emotional support aimed specially at grandparents to support them in their own significant supporting role. |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2012 |
| Impact | This video has been viewed 300 times to 4 November 2014. This together with our other videos on the project were viewed 6,334 times between 2012-2015. |
| URL | http://youtu.be/tfynQG6YyFY?list=PLvRUyisSeWeCwAbMXQBr9GwIyElKLTVro |
| Title | Legal cases involving donor conception |
| Description | In this video, Professor Carol Smart discusses some of the recent legal cases involving lesbian families who have conceived using sperm from known donors. Carol starts by outlining some of the cases that have come to court and the decisions that judges are making. Then she gives some examples from our Relative Strangers project to give a more sociological perspective on the topic. |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2012 |
| Impact | This video has been viewed 1,439 times (to 4 November 2014) and made our research well known to the lesbian community who have used informal methods of donor conception. This together with our other videos on the project were viewed 6,334 times between 2012-2015. |
| URL | http://youtu.be/iARG1Dx7k10?list=PLvRUyisSeWeCwAbMXQBr9GwIyElKLTVro |
| Description | Telling donor conceived children, and others, about their genetic origins was found to be one of the most difficult consequences for parents who chose donor conception as a way to have a family. It used to be that parents were encouraged to keep donor conception a secret, but in recent years the policy has shifted towards openness; parents are now encouraged to disclose to their children that they are born as a result of a donation. However, this development is very recent and so we found that there is no established way of talking about donor conception in families. Parents were often committed to the idea of being open, and yet found that the process of telling was far from straightforward. For example, they felt uncertain about how to broach the topic with their children, about what age they should start to tell them, and about how to talk of eggs and sperm. Parents also found that they needed to tell close friends or family about the nature of the conception but here too they found the lack of a ready available social script or 'narrative' meant that broaching such conversations could be very difficult. We also found that a consequence of being open was that parents were no longer able to control information about their private lives (e.g. infertility) and this could be very difficult for them. Do genetic links matter? Genetic connections play a very complex role in the families of donor conceived children and there is no easy answer to this question. The issue of genes and blood raised a range of often confused and confusing feelings. The couples we spoke to chose donor conception, over adoption, because it meant that one partner would have a genetic link with the child. We found that family members 'claimed' the child as their own in different ways. For example, they could emphasise the importance of social relationships over genetic ones in forming family bonds. Erin, a mother of an egg donor-conceived child talked about being her daughter's mum: it's the hours and hours and days and months and weeks and years of love and time and energy and, you know hard graft at times that you need to give to your child to raise it. To me it's become abundantly clear that that's what makes a mother and not the cell that starts it off But the genetic bond to the donor was not completely disregarded either. For example, some children looked very different from the rest of the family, or developed tastes or talents that appeared foreign. Moreover, little things, such as talk about family resemblances reminded parents and grandparents that they were not all genetically related. The difficult decision to use a donor Heterosexual couples Many heterosexual couples we interviewed made the decision to use a donor after struggling to conceive without a donor for many years, and donor conception often felt like what one of our interviewees described as 'the next best option'. Women who conceived using egg donation felt a strong biological link to the baby through pregnancy and birth, even though they had no genetic link. Where couples conceived using sperm donation, the man could experience feelings of inadequacy linked to his infertility problems, as well as feeling a lack of a connection with the baby during pregnancy. Many men felt more of a connection after the birth when they could begin to build a relationship based on caring for, and spending time with, the child. However, difficult feelings could 'flare up' for example, if somebody remarked on how much the child looked like them. The different experiences of heterosexual men and women We found that men and women had very different experiences of donor conception even though all embarked on the process as a joint project. It was, for example, often clear that it was the women who were driving the process and who sometimes had a stronger commitment to having children. Moreover, the women in heterosexual couples often consoled themselves with the knowledge that they would experience a pregnancy, give birth and hopefully breastfeed. So although, in cases of egg donation, the mothers were not genetically related to their child, they still had a strong biological link. For the men in cases of sperm donation, it could be much more difficult to adjust and for them the consolation was that their wives had conceived and that, together, they had a baby to raise from 'day one'. Trevor: I turned to [the counsellor] and I said "Well how do you deal with this stuff?" She said "The truth is you don't, you kind of, you live with it". Which was a nice sort of thing and I think [it] helped me massively, that speech. It means you don't have to come out the other side and everything be okay, you just live with it and you deal with it and you try and let it affect you as little as possible. Lesbian couples Lesbian couples knew from the outset that to start a family they had a choice between donor conception and adoption, so their decision to use a donor was not taken in the shadow of infertility problems (though some couples did have to resort to IVF as well as sperm donation). For these couples, difficulties tended to come from problems finding a suitable donor, or from concerns about equality between the 'genetic' and 'non-genetic' mothers. Non-genetic mothers were worried that, where the identity of the donor was known, he might be treated as the 'real' second parents of the child, thus pushing them to the margins. Couples often took steps to secure the legal parenthood of the non-genetic mother. Lesbian couples had to continually manage the fact that their family looked different from the norm. This could cause tensions particularly where family members, and especially grandparents, were still struggling with the idea of their daughter being a lesbian. On a more positive note, some couples found that the birth of a baby could help mend previously difficult relationships. The effect of an unknown donor on family life Wondering about the donor Even when the identity of the donor was not known and they had no contact with the child, they could still seem to 'haunt' the family. The child could look or be very different from others in the family and this typically led parents and grandparents to wonder about the donor, and if this difference was a resemblance to them. Wondering about 'donor siblings' Many of the parents we interviewed wondered about the existence of 'donor siblings' born from the gametes of their donor. They felt uneasy at the thought that their child could be related to a large number of unknown children growing up in the same town or even neighbourhood. They might also wonder whether these children counted as 'family' for their child. The effect of a known donor on family life Where couples knew their donor, they each had to negotiate complex questions around who counted as family. Do the donor's parents become grandparents of a donor-conceived child? Is the donor-conceived child a (half) sibling to the donor's other children? This could be a difficult and worrying process for couples and wider family. How grandparents feel Our interviews with grandparents allowed us to hear directly some of the views and experiences of the older generation. We discovered the 'rule' that grandparents should not interfere in the lives and decisions of their adult children was both robust and quite rigidly applied. This meant that grandparents were almost universally loathe to offer their views on donor conception - at least to their adult children. To us, they voiced concerns about whether it was wise to introduce a 'strange' gene pool into the family, or they were concerned that there may be troubles and complications ahead. With lesbian families, grandparents could worry about discrimination and bullying when the child got to school. But in the main the grandparents were simply glad to be grandparents and wanted to treat their donor-conceived grandchild in exactly the same way as all their other grandchildren. |
| Exploitation Route | A number of significant organisations and support groups were consulted during the course of the research. These included the Donor Conception Network, Brilliant Beginnings, the National Gamete Donation Trust, Pride Angel and the London Women's Clinic. The DCN has already included some of our findings in the leaflets that they provide for donor conception parents and have widely promoted our findings on their website. Nordqvist has also been invited to speak at the Donor Conception Network National Conference 2013. We have also produced our own leaflets for parents and grandparents which are being made available to clients at the LWC as well as on line. Our videos have also had impact - see the creative products section. |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Healthcare,Other |
| URL | http://www.socialsciences.manchester.ac.uk/morgancentre/our-research/kinship-and-relatedness/relative-strangers/ |
| Description | Academic impact We have sought to published and disseminate our findings as broadly as possible in order to maximise our academic impact. Publishing our book based on the project and journal articles have been important strategies in realising this aim, and we have also given talks and delivered papers widely. The academic community have been very receptive and interested in our focus on the wider family findings, and our socio-legal perspective, as demonstrated by, for example, the invitation to contribute a chapter to an edited book, the invitation of both Smart and Nordqvist as keynote speakers at conferences, as well as positive reviews of the book. The findings have also been used to generate new research ideas that are now being put into new research developments, including a major grant proposal, establishing a socio-legal network on third party conception as well as a University wide interdisciplinary research group on assisted reproduction. Practitioner and policy makers We have contributed to wider societal debates through our response to the Nuffield Council of Bioethics call for evidence 'Donor conception: ethical aspects of information disclosure'. Our findings were put to use in the report, and additionally, Prof Smart was invited as keynote speaker when the report was launched. She was also invited to write a piece in Bionews, in which she drew on findings from the study. We have also communicated our findings to policy makers and practioners through our many events organised as part of the project, notably the end of project conferences in Manchester March 2013 and in London June 2013. We were awarded an ESRC Accelerated Impact Award and we delivered a public debate 'Do genes matter' in London May 2013, with an audience of about 100 people. The feedback indicated that the audience were impacted in their thinking about the meaning of genes in family life. Nordqvist also published a comment piece in Bionews following the event. We have also taken the opportunity to impact on the wider societal debate through publishing blog posts (Nordqvist 2014) and participating in media interviews (Nordqvist April 2014). These activities have enabled us to use the findings to impact on public debate and, we hope, deepen the understanding of the issues involved in donor conception among practitioners and policy makers. Usergroups Throughout the project, we have been working collaboratively with user groups, most notably, the Donor Conception Network (the DCN), the National Gamete Donation Trust and Lesbian Mums groups in Manchester, London, Bristol and Hebden Bridge (West Yorkshire). The DCN invited us to read and comment on their draft leaflets to families of donor conceived children based on the findings made in the study. The findings presented in the book has been keenly received in the user group communities, both in the UK (through the DCN) and also internationally, notably in Canada. They have also been recognised by the largest donor sperm bank in the world, Cryos International, who writes about the book on its website. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2013 |
| Sector | Healthcare,Other |
| Impact Types | Cultural |
| Description | Blog Policy@Manchester 2014 |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | (2014) 'Drive for openness in donor conception - its impact on family relationships.' Manchester Policy Blog < http://blog.policy.manchester.ac.uk/> 28 May |
| URL | http://blog.policy.manchester.ac.uk/ |
| Description | Contribution to (and citations in) the Nuffield Council on Bioethics report on the ethical aspects of information sharing in donor conception |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
| Impact | - |
| URL | http://nuffieldbioethics.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Donor_conception_report_2013.pdf |
| Description | Discover Society blog 2015 |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | (2015) 'Is honesty always the best policy for parents of donor-conceived children?' Discover Society blog 1 July. |
| URL | http://discoversociety.org/?s=nordqvist |
| Description | Feature Radio4, Woman's Hour |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | Radio 4 Woman's Hour (2014) 'Single women seeking IVF', 17 April. |
| URL | http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b040llvd |
| Description | Information sheets for parents and families, based on Relative Strangers study |
| Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | Information sheets and leaflets (http://www.manchester.ac.uk/relative-strangers/families/) for families and those working with them - such as infertility clinics, representative bodies and lawyers. These are now used by clinics and infertility counsellors across the UK. The leaflets, distributed in print and available online, drew directly on our interview data and research funded by the ESRC. 2,445 printed leaflets distributed and 1,918 downloaded from our website. Leaflets were launched in March 2015; they have been read (printed and online versions) 4,363 times in less than a year. Leaflets downloaded in 44 countries. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority have recognised the importance of our insights by recommending our patient leaflets on their website (http://www.hfea.gov.uk/8350.html). |
| URL | http://www.socialsciences.manchester.ac.uk/morgancentre/our-research/kinship-and-relatedness/relativ... |
| Description | Nordqvist's feature in article national newspaper the Independent, 2015 |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | Print and online media coverage Geddes, L. (2015) 'IVF: Do children have the right to know if they're the result of a stranger's sperm or egg donation', the Independent, 10 Aug. |
| URL | http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/ivf-do-children-have-the-right-... |
| Description | Videos from research produced and published via YouTube |
| Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | Videos which are available on YouTube; these raise awareness about donor conception and legal issues, and offer support for families. We produced four videos 2012-2015 on topics including grandparents, challenges for lesbian couples, and legal cases involving donated gametes. These videos have been viewed 6,334 times since being uploaded, starting 2012. |
| URL | http://www.socialsciences.manchester.ac.uk/morgancentre/our-research/kinship-and-relatedness/relativ... |
| Description | ESRC Impact Acceleration Account Award; Policy Evidence Seminar Scheme |
| Amount | £7,960 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Economic and Social Research Council |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 01/2014 |
| End | 07/2014 |
| Description | Andrology and embryology conference, Manchester, 2016 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Gave a talk about the Relative Strangers project at the UK NEQAS - External quality assessment services for laboratory medicine - annual conference for andrologists and embryologists. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | BSA Human Reproduction Study Group Seminar (December 2015) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Members of the British Sociological Association Human Reproduction Study Group attended a workshop on methodological challenges in studying assisted reproduction Invited to present after our book 'Relative Strangers' was well received by the organisers |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | BSA annual conference, Glasgow 2015, and Atmospheres conference Manchester July 2015 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | ''I've redeemed myself by being a 1950s 'housewife': Parent-grandparent relationships in the context of lesbian childbirth', BSA 2015 Annual Conference, Glasgow Caledonia University, 15-17 April 2015 and Atmospheres, Morgan Centre for the Study of Relationships and Everyday Lives, University of Manchester, 2-3 July 2015 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | BSA conference past and future LGBT parenting research agendas, University of Manchester |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Nordqvist, P and Almack, K. 'Changing Conceptions: Lesbian parenting past and futures', BSA Families and Relationships Study Group Day: Looking back and looking forward for future LGBT parenting research agendas. University of Manchester, 6 May 2016 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Conference Cork, Ireland 2011 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | 20 academics attended a 2 day international workshop on assisted reproduction. Seminar paper sparked questions and debate. I was invited back to participate in funding application |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
| Description | Conference Gender, Personal Life and Modernity: Perspectives from Asia and Europe |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | A group of international scholars shared research findings on family life Networking and knowledge exchange between Asian and European scholars |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| Description | Conference Warwick Medical School Sept 2011 (genetic kinship and assisted reproduction) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | 30 academics attend a talk on genetic kinship and assisted reproduction The paper resulted in Important networking with colleagues at other institutions |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
| Description | Donor Conception Network meeting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Participants in your research and patient groups |
| Results and Impact | Presentation to parents of donor conceived children. Well received, spared many questions and debate. Dissemination and networking with user groups; realising the impact of study |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
| Description | ESRC International Conference, LSE |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Type Of Presentation | keynote/invited speaker |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | The audience was a mix of policy makers, campaigners, academics from various disciplines, lawyers (academic and practicing) and judges. It stimulated huge interest and debate We were able to reach policy makers (especially from Australia) and to put forward different points of view to those normally aired. It was a multidisciplinary conference which allowed researchers from different perspectives to engage with campaigners and practitioners as well as other academics. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | ESRC National Conference, Manchester |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Type Of Presentation | paper presentation |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Supporters |
| Results and Impact | The audience was comprised of policy makers, campaigners, donor conceived people and other academics. It resulted in a very active debate. We were asked to contribute to the Donor Conception Network newsletter/ leaflets in order to ensure that the views of our respondents could be included. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Guest lecture, Department of Sociology, University of Orebro, Sweden |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Guest lecture to colleagues in Sweden about donor conception: Sharing sensitive information : communicating with kin about donor conceptiont the Sparked much debate, networking activity for future collaborations |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
| Description | Interdisciplinary conference on parenthood, University of Warwick |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Interdisciplinary dialogue on historical and contemporary perspectives on parenting. Paper on parents by donor conception, sparked much debate and discussion. Links with scholars from different disciplines working on parenthood; part of ongoing network |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| Description | Internal conference Geneva |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | 'The drive for openness in donor conception: Disclosure and the trouble with real life', Alumni meeting 2015, Brocher Foundation, Geneva, Switzerland, 17-19 June 2015. About 70 people listened to interdisciplinary research in the area of medicine and its social implications |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | International conference, Thessaloniki, Greece, December 2014 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | International interdisciplinary workshop on assisted reproduction Networking with European scholars on legal, social and ethical issues in assisted reproduction |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | International donor conception conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | 'Questions of kinship and genes: Donors, boundaries and tantalising knowledge', Parenthood Symposium, Ghent, Belgium, 27-28 August 2015 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | New Frontiers of the Family National conference University of Manchester |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Talk 'Questions of kinship and genes: Donors, boundaries and tantalising knowledge', New frontiers of Family: an 'Intimate Relationships' seminar, University of Manchester, 11 May. By invitation; keynote |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Parent group conference 'We Do It Our Way conference', Hebden Bridge 2012 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Participants in your research and patient groups |
| Results and Impact | 120 lesbian parents of donor conceived children attended user group conference. Paper sparked questions and discussion afterwards, and aided networking for research Shared information with parents of donor conceived children, who took much interest in our findings |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| Description | Patient group conference, Belfast 2015 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Patients, carers and/or patient groups |
| Results and Impact | Nordqvist, P. 'Donor conception and how it can impact on family relationships' Becoming a Family with the Help of a Donor, Fertility Counselling Service Northern Ireland, Belfast 19 Sept 2015 Keynote. Talked to infertility patients, parents of donor concevived children, clinics and infertility counsellors about our research. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Relative Strangers: Negotiating Non-Genetic Kinship in the Context of Assisted Conception |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Presentation to meeting of Donor Conception Network, user network group Section not completed |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
| Description | SocioLegal Studies Annual Conference 2012 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Type Of Presentation | paper presentation |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Considerable discussion Contact from peers following the presentation |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| Description | Talk Politics of everyday life/The Everyday Life of Politics |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | 'On infertility, genetic donation and 'real' mums and dads: Politics of intimate lives', The Everyday Life of Politics/The Politics of Everyday Life. Division of Sociology, University of Manchester, 25 January 2016 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Talk Reproductive medicine unit, St Marys hospital, Manchester 2015 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Invited to give a talk at the Department of Reproductive Medicine, Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust St. Mary's Hospital Manchester, 3 November 2016. Reached medical doctors and staff working directly with patients. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | University of Cambridge seminar (Personal Life and Genetic Relatedness) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Type Of Presentation | keynote/invited speaker |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | The seminar was attended by academics and postgraduates researching in the same or similar field. Followed by a sharing of academic papers and also collaborations with colleagues at Cambridge |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | University of Exeter Open Lecture Series (Donor Conception: Genetic connections in contemporary family life) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Type Of Presentation | keynote/invited speaker |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
| Results and Impact | The talk was particularly stimulating for law undergraduates who were not familiar with the field. A further sharing of information with academic lawyers |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | University of Geneva (Personal Life and Genetic Relatedness) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Type Of Presentation | keynote/invited speaker |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | 20 Swiss academics and postgraduates attended. There was a sharing of information on the British context of donor conception and family life. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | University of Oslo (Genes and Families) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Type Of Presentation | keynote/invited speaker |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Approximately 15 academics attended who were working in the same or similar fields. There was cross disciplinary discussion and debate on the role of law. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Woman's Hour Interview on family life after donor conception april 2014 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Petra Nordqvist interviewed as part of a discussion about family life after donor conception, especially the case of single women who start a family using a sperm donor. How do people choose a donor, what characteristics do they think are important (or not), what is it like to have family relationships without a genetic connection and how do people feel about the donor. Increased understanding of the impact on donor conception on family life amongst the public |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Workshop Brocher Foundation, Geneva, Switzerland (November 2012) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | 40 international scholars attended 3-day workshop to work collaboratively on edited book on assisted reproduction Audience took much interest in our sociological findings, paper sparked much debate and questions |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| Description | Workshop March 2012 Brocher Foundation, Geneva, Switzerland |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Group of international experts attended workshop whilst visiting researcher at the Brocher Foundation. Paper: Relative closeness: situating disclosure of donor conception in family relationships. Sparked interest and debate Networking and discussion |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |