Research shows Italian society split on acceptance of donor-conceived families
Knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes toward parenthood following gamete donation in Italy. (Fusco, 2025)
Fusco, C., De Carli, P., Jadva, V., & Santona, A. (2025). Knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes toward parenthood following gamete donation in Italy. Family Relations, 1-22. https://doi.org/10.1111/fare.13194
Geographic Region: Italy
Research Question: What are the knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes toward different-sex parenthood following donor conception among the general population in Italy?
Design: Cross-sectional survey study using an experimental design. Data collected from August 2023 to January 2024 through online surveys distributed via social media platforms. Participants were randomly assigned to read one of five vignettes describing couples using different conception methods (egg donation, sperm donation, double gamete donation, non-donor ART, or spontaneous conception). After reading their assigned vignette, participants assessed the couple's parental characteristics using the adapted Couples Rating Scale. The vignettes were carefully crafted to portray happy, stable, and fulfilled couples with high education levels, professional success, strong social networks, and shared desire for parenthood, with only the conception method varying between conditions.
Sample: 624 participants recruited through social media platforms (Facebook and Instagram). The inclusion criteria required participants to not be gamete-recipient parents, have donor-conceived siblings, or be donor-conceived themselves. The sample was predominantly female (62%) with a mean age of 39 years. Most participants identified as heterosexual (91%) and lived in northern Italy. 61% held a bachelor's degree or higher, while 71% reported annual incomes below 50,000 euros. 74% were in committed relationships or married, and 67% did not have children. The majority (91%) reported no previous experience with infertility, 60% identified as non-religious. Politically, 51% identified as left-wing while 19% identified as right-wing.
Key Findings
Most participants (86%) had heard of assisted reproductive technology but showed limited understanding of donor conception processes. Nearly half (48%) did not know the difference between donor and non-donor treatments, and 86% reported minimal or no knowledge of donor conception. Most participants (96%) reported having no firsthand knowledge and direct contact with donor conception families or gamete donors.
About half of the participants believed that donor conception families were integrated and understood in Italian society (51%), and about half thought they were not (49%).
Most respondents (58%) preferred anonymous donation compared to known or identifiable donation.
Most respondents (86%) reported they thought gamete-recipient parents had an equal parental role regardless of the genetic connection to the donor-conceived child.
68% of participants believed that disclosing donor conception to children would not negatively affect the relationship between the non-genetic parent and the child. However, fewer participants (49%) believed disclosure would not harm the child's psychological development and growth within the family.
Participants expressed significantly higher concerns that naturally conceiving couples would emotionally neglect, physically abuse, or sexually abuse their children compared to couples using assisted reproduction, both with and without donors.
Couples using donor gametes were seen as having less stable relationships compared to non-donor ART couples.
Limitations: Potential self-selection bias from online recruitment that may not represent the broader Italian population. Social desirability bias was possible given the sensitive nature of reproductive topics. The study focused only on different-sex couples due to Italian legal restrictions on infertility treatments, preventing comparison with other family forms. Survey questions may not have captured the full complexity of parenthood attitudes. The sample was skewed toward educated, left-leaning individuals without children, which may have influenced results. Non-normal data distribution suggesting polarized responses possibly due to limited knowledge of donor conception.
Applications: Increased knowledge and awareness among the general public about assisted reproduction and donor-conceived families could help reduce stigma.
Funding Source: No funding source was specified in the article.
Lead Author: Chiara Fusco is a researcher in the Department of Psychology at the University of Milano-Bicocca, specializing in family studies and reproductive psychology. No personal connection to donor conception was identified through available information.
Regulatory Context
Italy maintains one of Europe's most restrictive assisted reproduction legal frameworks.
Donor treatments became legal in 2014 following a constitutional court ruling overturning previous prohibitions.
Access is limited exclusively to different-sex married or cohabiting couples, excluding single individuals and same-sex couples.
The law mandates anonymous donation and prohibits embryo donation and surrogacy arrangements.
In October 2024, Italy passed legislation making international surrogacy a "universal crime," with penalties of 3 months to 2 years imprisonment and fines from 600,000 to 1 million euros for those who seek surrogacy abroad, even in countries where it's legal.
No legal requirements exist for disclosure to children, and the strong Catholic cultural influence creates ongoing tension between pronatalist values and restrictive reproductive policies.
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