Media and research requests
Media Requests
We often receive requests from media outlets who are looking for individuals to speak about their experiences of creating or expanding their family via donor conception. If you are a DCN member and would be interested in potentially speaking to media, please do contact Kate Alden at kate@dcnetwork.org and we'll add you to our list. We will never pass on your details without contacting you first.
The following are some of the current media requests that we have received. If you would be interested in being interviewed, please contact the relevant journalist directly – contact information is provided for each request.
1. Kurt Brooks - BBC World Service
Radio production company Made In Manchester is producing an audio documentary about donor conception titled "Donor Babies: A Question of Identity" for the BBC World Service. The programme will focus on people who are the product of donor conception and their mindset after discovering the truth about their origins. Made In Manchester previously produced "Growing Up IVF" for BBC Radio 1 in 2019.
Contact: If you are interested in taking part please contact Kurt Brookes on kurt.brookes@madeinmanchester.tv .
2. Alessandra Pellegrini De Luca - IL POST
Alessandra Pellegrini De Luca is an Italian journalist working for Il Post and covering non-traditional families and stories of donor conception. This year she is writing a piece on the experiences of British DC people who, this year for the first time when they’ll turn 18, will be able to get identifying information about their donor, and potentially meet with them, following the lifting of donor anonymity in 2005. Specifically, she is interested in exploring what kind of experience this will be for those children and how it could contribute to changes in the law in countries where gamete donation is still anonymous e.g. Italy, where donor insemination was only legalised in 2014, is anonymous, and there is little or no debate on the removal of donor anonymity. Alessandra feels that listening to the stories of DC people who got in contact with their donors might be of huge help for the Italian public. She is also interested in speaking with someone who recently got in contact with their donor through DNA testing.
Contact: Alessandra's contact details are: pellegrinideluca@ilpost.it +39 3497298962, +44 7526799294
3. Blanche Girouard - Radio 4
Blanche Girouard is a journalist, DCN member and mother of a donor-conceived baby and has been commissioned by BBC Radio 4 to make a programme about donor conceived children as they turn 18. She is looking for DC children conceived in a UK clinic on or after 1st April 2005 and turning 18 in 2023/2024 who are open to the possibility of contacting their donor(s) in 2023/4 and are willing to let her share the journey with them. She is looking for participants who are willing to reflect on their life, to date, with regards to their experience of being a DC child and to share their views on the best way to bring up DC children. The programme will air in 2024.
Contact: If interested, please email blanchegirouard@hotmail.com directly with basic details about your DC child (e.g. date of birth, location of clinic, type of donor(s) and current location). She will then get back to you to establish contact and discuss further.