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Making it Real

A specialist workshop for professionals working in the field of donor conception.

Do you work with donor conception families or with patients using donor eggs, sperm or embryos? Our ‘Making it Real’ workshop is specially designed for you, to enhance your knowledge and understanding of this route to parenthood and help you offer families the support they need.

This workshop will deepen your own understanding of the ways in which creating a child using eggs, sperm or embryos from a third party, including with surrogacy, is different from standard fertility treatments. We look at how to help prospective parents consider the lifetime implications of this route for the child and the family. We also look at how to support families as children grow up and circumstances (and interest levels) change.

We run this workshop once each year and our next workshop will take place in spring of 2025. Our 2024 workshop sold out so you may wish to join our mailing list to hear when tickets for 2025 go on sale. 

This event is a Donor Conception Network event so you can rest assured that all information will be impartial and based on our experience of working with donor conception families for the past 30 years.

Essential info:

  • One day event (9:15am-4.45pm)
  • Held on Zoom
  • £100 for early bird ticket
  • Next event – spring 2025
  • Includes online break-out groups with other professionals for networking

Five reasons to attend

  1. Hear the experiences of parents and donor conceived adults – how do these families fare in the long term?
  2. Consider the place of the donor, the donor’s family and any genetic siblings or half-siblings in donor conception families (especially important post-2023).
  3. Learn how DNA testing is revolutionising the making of genetic connections and the implications for families.
  4. Listen to DC Network’s long view of life for donor conception families
  5. Feel better supported in your role in the fast changing world of donor conception.

This workshop will help you to understand:

  • The support needed by donor conception families before, during and after treatment, especially as choices are being made about clinics and countries.
  • The popularity of genetic testing companies and the impact of the removal of anonymity in the UK – what’s changed now that the donor register has opened?
  • The services and resources offered by DC Network – and how these complement and build on information provided and counselling undertaken in clinics and elsewhere
  • The social and emotional issues of using donated gametes
  • The implications of the use of DNA and genetic testing websites
  • The experiences of patients and clients in greater depth.