Gay father surrogacy families: relationships with surrogates and egg donors and parental disclosure of children's origins

OBJECTIVE To study the nature and quality of relationships between gay father families and their surrogates and egg donors and parental disclosure of children's origins. DESIGN Cross-sectional study. SETTING Family homes. PATIENT(S) Parents in 40 gay father families with 3-9-year-old children born through surrogacy. INTERVENTION(S) Administration of a semistructured interview. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S) Relationships between parents, children, surrogates, and egg donors and parental disclosure of children's origins were examined using a semistructured interview. RESULT(S) The majority of fathers were content with the level of contact they had with the surrogate, with those who were discontent wanting more contact. Fathers were more likely to maintain relationships with surrogates than egg donors, and almost all families had started the process of talking to their children about their origins, with the level of detail and children's understanding increasing with the age of the child. CONCLUSION(S) In gay father surrogacy families with young children, relationships between parents, children, surrogates, and egg donors are generally positive.