Making it Real
A specialist workshop for professionals working in the field of donor conception.
Next workshop: 8 May 2026
Do you work with donor conception families or with patients using donor eggs, sperm or embryos? Do you want to feel confident supporting them, not just at the point you see them, but in a way that truly considers the lifelong journey they’re on? Would you like to better understand the bigger picture and what life is really like for donor conception families?
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 session will help you understand the arc of experiences that donor conception families may move through, including the various points at which they may need information, support or guidance.
We run this workshop once each year and our next workshop will take place on 8 May 2026.
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.
“As a donation practitioner within a fertility clinic, I found this event, in particular hearing the lived experiences of the speakers, extremely insightful. It has provided me with more in-depth knowledge and a different perspective on the long term implications for parents and importantly for donor conceived children.”
This workshop will help to:
- Shape your policy: Attendance at this workshop will inform your policy and practice, helping you support your clients and patients in making decisions that are right for their future.
- Deepen understanding: 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.
- Support prospective parents: We look at how best to help prospective parents consider from the outset the lifetime implications for the child and the family.
- Support families: We look at how to support families as children grow up and circumstances, as well as interest levels, may change.
- Connect with others in the field: The workshop also provides an opportunity to meet and network with the other attendees, all of whom will be professionals in a related field, as well as with DC Network’s team.
This workshop will enhance 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, plus how to support families as children grow up and circumstances (and interest levels) change.
Five reasons to attend
- Hear the experiences of parents and donor conceived adults – how do these families fare in the long term?
- 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).
- Learn how DNA testing is revolutionising the making of genetic connections and the implications for families.
- Listen to DC Network’s long view of life for donor conception families
- Feel better supported in your role in the fast changing world of donor conception.