Donor conception research database
Below you’ll find a database of social scientific research on donor conception published since 2000.
We’re grateful to our colleagues at UCL, Dr Kitty Jones and Dr Sophie Zadeh, with whom we collaborated to create a public database of research in this field, as part of the Young Adults Study, a project funded by the Economic and Social Research Council [ES/S015426/1].
When written initially, the database inclusion criteria were that studies should:
- Be based in the UK;
- Include UK participants (in whole or in part); or
- Explore an under-researched topic; and
- Be carried out post-2000.
Since the project ended in 2024, we have continued to update the database with the latest studies. As such we have widened the criteria to include samples beyond the UK and explore a wider range of topics, plus we have added reviews published of relevant topics. We have also added an additional column with traffic light tagging to indicate coverage:
- Green represents broad, commonly explored topics such as parental disclosure, donor anonymity, and kinship. These areas have a wider body of research available, and this section will also include reviews.
- Yellow represents topics that are well-researched but slightly less commonly or have a narrower target audience.
- Amber represents niche or emerging areas of research. These studies may speak to more specific experiences or questions.
This traffic light system also considers research methods, such as how generalisable the findings are (based on participant type and diversity), repeatability of results, and potential bias.
This database is designed as a starting point – a publicly accessible library of research for both academics and the wider community. We welcome suggestions for additional studies, which can be submitted using the Google Form below.