Media
Information for journalists and broadcasters, plus media opportunities for donor conception families
Media contact
We help to provide a voice for donor conception families and the wider community. Please contact our Marketing Manager, Kate Alden, in the first instance:
- Phone: +44 (0)20 7278 2608
- Email: kate@dcnetwork.org
Kate’s working days are Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, 9.30am-5pm, so if you need help outside of these hours, please contact enquiries@dcnetwork.org and someone will get back to you as soon as possible.
In order to help you, please provide us with:
- Your name, job title and publication name
- Your deadline
- As much information as possible about the kind of information or speaker you are looking for.
Our areas of expertise
- Expert view of donor conception and this method of family building, in particular:
- Talking to children about donor conception
- Changing donor anonymity laws
- Experiences of solo mums, same-sex families, or mixed families
- Perspectives of donor conceived people
- Ethical considerations and family dynamics
- Lived experiences – we may be able to help connect you to individuals who are will to share their personal stories.
About the Donor Conception Network
- The Donor Conception Network was founded in 1993 (then called the Donor Insemination Network).
- We have over 2000 members, primarily in the UK and Ireland but also across Europe, in the US and beyond.
- We welcome those using egg, sperm, double or embryo donation, sometimes also involving surrogacy. We have always been inclusive and have books, workshops and groups specifically aimed at same-sex couples, single people and heterosexual couples, as well as general events and services suitable for all family types.
- Together, we have formed a community of parents, prospective parents, donor conceived children and adults, and professionals. We do all this on a charitable basis, with all profits being reinvested back into the organisation.
- We are governed by a group of trustees formally elected annually at the AGM and our office is located in London in the UK, with a large network of volunteers based around the UK and beyond.
- We regularly contribute to research and support high-quality studies involving the donor conception community. You can find details of studies we have supported in our research archive, as well as current research opportunities and a database of all research since 2000.
Donor Conception in the UK
- More than 70,000 donor conceived children have been born in the UK since 1991.
- The number of children born from donor sperm more than tripled from under 900 in 2006, to over 2,800 in 2019. This increase was driven by single patients, and patients in female same-sex relationships.
- Data suggests that by 2030, there will be an average of one or two donor conceived children in every English state primary school.
Data from the Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority.