Our flagship events are a wonderful opportunity to learn, share and meet others in a similar family situation. They are also a wonderful opportunity for donor conceived children to explore their origins and meet others made ‘just like them’.
Our next in-person conference will take place on 19 April 2026 in London and tickets will go on sale soon. DCN conferences are exclusively for members and are just one of the many benefits of joining the Network.
Don’t miss our next in-person conference, which will take place in April 2026 in London. The event is a wonderful opportunity to connect with other donor conception families and to hear from knowledgeable and inspiring speakers, including parents and donor conceived adults. We also run specialist activities for children, including What Makes Me, Me? and Dr Sharon Pettle’s Children’s Group, so it’s a unique opportunity to connect with other families in our community.
Tickets will go on sale soon and DCN members will receive an email inviting them to book.
From the very beginning when our charity was founded in 1993, we’ve always run two conferences a year. These events give members the opportunity to spend a day together, meeting in person and sharing their hopes, fears and stories in a confidential and supportive space.
We know how important and valuable these events are. Wherever possible we offer a creche and children’s activities, so kids can attend too. It’s lovely for children to have a space to meet other children who are donor conceived. We’ve seen long-term friendships forged at the conferences. Not only that, but the event often acts as a prompt for some important and valuable conversations within the family.
The event includes presentations from speakers focusing on a range of donor conception-related subjects as well as small discussion groups. You can see the programme for our last London conference here and our recent Bristol conference programme here to get a sense of the topics we cover. We generally hold our spring conference in London in April or May, and our autumn conference elsewhere in the UK. We were in Sheffield in 2023, Edinburgh in 2024 and Bristol in October 2025. We try to move around the UK to ensure we offer a local option close to home for our members.
We also offer a virtual conference online showing recordings of the highlights from the London conference. This allows members who were unable to attend the in-person event to still benefit from the rich and interesting content. Our 2025 virtual conference took place on 21 June; do join our mailing list to find out about our 2026 event.
Our conferences are very much a family affair. We had a number of options for children at our London conference this year, including a creche with other donor conceived children, a creative session, and a children’s group with Dr Sharon Pettle. We know that these activities can really help stimulate and support conversations that the family are having at home.
‘We love coming to the conference and feeling part of a community of people with a particular shared experience. It is a moment to pause, come together and to reflect on how our own personal experience can be shaped by what we learn, and how we might help others on their journeys. Always worthwhile.’
‘For me and my daughter to meet families like ours is always a joy. To hear a donor speak about their motives and feelings was wonderful – more please.’
‘We have a one year old who was conceived using both egg and sperm donors. The conference made us feel like we are part of something bigger, it’s not just us who have a donor conceived child. Plus, it just normalized the whole issue. I feel less concerned about the fact that I have a donor conceived child – I feel much more relaxed about the whole thing – thank you!’
We’d love to welcome you to DCN as a member. Hopefully the information above provides all the detail you need but please do get in touch if you still have questions.