How to Tell
A new seminar about telling your child they’re donor conceived

Explaining donor conception to baby

We advocate for openness
and honesty

Social norms have shifted significantly in the last 40 odd years, since IVF with the use of donor gametes was established, from secrecy to honesty. Research and anecdotal evidence tell us it’s in the best interest of DCPs for them to know from an early age of their donor conception.

How to Tell is a full day educational event that arms parents with tools to make this conversation easier. It will be our first seminar event, running in the second half of 2024. Our program is still in development and we are still finalising dates.

Please register your interest in How to Tell so we can give you updates and let you know the details of the event as soon as they are confirmed. You’ll also get early-release access to tickets!

Key reasons we advocate for telling DCPs of their donor conception or ‘origin story’ from an early age are:

  1. As the DCP grows and their identity develops, being donor conceived becomes an element of who they are. Its something about themselves they’ve always known.

  2. Keeping secrets within a family can severely damage relationships, whereas sharing this information establishes openness and honesty, building trust within the family.

  3. The risk of the DCP accidentally finding out has increased significantly with the widespread availability of DNA testing. Keeping this secret forever is virtually impossible. The shock and trauma of finding out in this way can and should be avoided for the DCP.

  4. It’s important for every person to know their genetic medical history, regardless of how they were conceived.

As well as our educational events, we will sell a range of books to assist with and guide these conversations while you get started. Parents can also access this VARTA information from 2019 about talking to their donor conceived child.

While the intended audience for How to Tell is Recipient Parents, the event’s focus is DCPs. We want those parenting young DCPs to have the information and knowledge they need to avoid the mistakes made that have so hurt previous generations of DCPs.