P-67: Exploring The Decisions of Iranian Infertile Couples Undergoing Assisted Reproductive Donation Procedures in Relation to Disclosure to Donor Offspring

Background Despite considerable advances in reproductive technology, its application is like a double-edged sword, which is associated with numerous challenges. One of the most challenging issues for couples is disclosure of conception circumstances to the offspring. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the decisions of infertile couples undergoing assisted reproductive donation procedures in relation to disclosure to donor offspring. MaterialsAndMethods In this exploratory qualitative study, 32 infertile couples who were candidate to use donor egg, donor embryo or surrogacy as well as four members of infertility treatment team including gynecologists and midwives (36 in total) were purposively selected from Montaserieh Infertility Research Centre at Mashhad, Iran in 2012. Data were collected through conducting semi-structured in depth interviews and were analyzed using conventional qualitative content analysis with MAXqda software. Results Most recipient couples decided not to inform the offspring from using of donation procedures. In relation to couple’s decision about secrecy towards the child three categories including: 1. protecting child from probable harms, 2. family relationships support, and 3. lack of compelling reasons to disclose were emerged. Conclusion Although child protection from possible harms is the main reason for secrecy of assisted reproductive donation procedures in infertile couples, but keeping this secret is not always easy and the possible long-term consequences for children born, can cause irreversible psychosocial damages. Raising public awareness towards donation procedures to change their perceptions and resolving infertile couples’ concerns to overcome the situation is recommended.