Raising and parenting your donor-conceived child

Hello, my husband and I are planning to have a baby via donor eggs… But I think this may have an influence in some way on the child’s manners. Do you think donor-conceived children are more rude, bad-mannered, with a lack of discipline…? I mean, is there some kind of trend? To be honest, I believe biological children have a greater relationship with parents than donor-conceived kids, because genetic compatibility definitely makes the difference. Keeping this in mind, while biological children have a stronger relationship with parents, those with no genetic connection are less eager to create closer ties with parents… what do you think? Am I right?

Dear natasha,

children’s behavior or manners when interacting with their parents is determined by the education they receive at home and not by their genetic load. The fact that parents and children share their genetic code does not mean the kid will be more or less rude or well-behaved with his/her parents.

Thus, there can be found donor-conceived children who are very well-behaved, responsible, and obedient, while there are also biological children who develop a rude behavior over their lives. As I said, this is more related to education rather than genetics and, in any case, to epigenetics. It is a branch of Biology that studies how the individual’s lifestyle has an influence on his/her behavior and who they are.

The following thread may be of interest: Epigenetics and egg donation.

I hope I have been able to help,

Regards