The UK Longitudinal Study of Reproductive Donation Families

Background: The UK Longitudinal Study of Reproductive Donation Families was started in the year 2000, when families who had conceived using sperm donation, egg donation or surrogacy were recruited to join the study alongside families who had conceived naturally. Families were interviewed in home every few years. The main research questions revolved around whether parent-child relationships, relationships between parents, or child development was impacted by different forms of reproductive donation.

Project timeline: 3 years for the last phase of the study (18 years for the full study)

Approach: Data collection was designed to include a semi-structured interview with each parent and the child, questionnaires, and an observational task between the mother and child. Field visits to each family’s home were conducted. Data was collected, coded, and analyzed using qualitative and quantitative analysis.

Role: I led the 6th phase of the longitudinal study, including setting up or adjusting the research material (i.e. interviews, questionnaires and observational task). I collected the majority of the data, interviewing over 200 people. In addition, I was able to locate participants who had been long lost to attrition in order to increase participation rates. I analyzed the data using thematic analysis, statistical analysis in SPSS and modeling in Mplus. During this time, I also supervised over 10 students. Along with the team, I wrote up the findings in 4 journal papers, 1 book chapter, and 1 report advising policy-makers in the Swedish government.