The ‘ConnecteDNA’ project: relationality and legal consciousness in the context of donor-conception

Description

The ConnecteDNA project has examined the use of direct-to-consumer genetic testing (DTCGT) by donor-conceived people (DCP), donors and parents of DCP. Our findings suggest that understanding (genetic) relatedness is fundamentally important to DCPs’ sense of self. Late and shock discoveries of the circumstances of their conception, sometimes as a result of using DTCGT, unsettle DCPs’ identity, and they often look to the law for answers. The UK’s Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 (Act) permits people conceived from donations made after April, 2005 to apply for identifying information about their donor, but only when they are 18. For donor-conceived children and people conceived of donations made before April 2005, there is no guaranteed legal route to such information. Our findings show how DTCGT, regulated as an online consumer service, is mobilised to search for information outside the Act’s framework.

There was no consensus among participants about the appropriate use or non-use of DTCGT to circumvent the Act. For some, online terms and conditions setting age limits and protecting others’ privacy were considered neither legally nor morally significant. For others, relational dilemmas arose, such as whether to share a child’s DNA, or disclose to someone that they are donor-conceived. I explore here the nature of participants’ legal consciousness in using DTCGT to search for related strangers, in particular whether a collective legal consciousness is constituted by, and exists among, those online communities who share a common belief in what is legally and morally acceptable in a search for genetic identity.

Period	26 Mar 2024
Event title	Socio-legal Studies Association annual conference 2024
Event type	Conference
Location	Portsmouth, United KingdomShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International