The psychosocial politics of paternity in the case of male donated gametes

SynopsisThe practice of donor insemination (DI) has created the conditions for ignoring, or erasing, the existence of the donor as gamete-provider. Policy in Western countries, however, is changing towards increased openness of information regarding the nature of conception where donated gametes are involved. For DI this means the donor is no longer anonymous, offspring have the right to access information about the donor's identity, and parents are encouraged to tell children the nature of their donor-assisted conception. This article considers the possibilities for the construction of “father” in the DI context whereby one man provides the gametes and another man provides the social, parental role. It analyses the psychosocial implications for feminist politics, against the background of a Western history of paternity that simultaneously enables both the imperative for men to identify their biological offspring, and the ability for men to be ignorant of conception and therefore disavow any procreative responsibility.