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Rethinking gamete donor care: A satisfaction survey of egg and sperm donors in the UK
- Source :
- PLoS ONE, Vol 13, Iss 7, p e0199971 (2018), PLoS ONE
- Publication Year :
- 2018
- Publisher :
- Public Library of Science (PLoS), 2018.
-
Abstract
- Objective Despite poor clinic communication and staff treatment being reported by donors, high rates of overall satisfaction are still reported in surveys. This study will evaluate the importance of communication and interaction between donors and fertility clinic staff in gamete donor care. Methods We report on 120 egg and sperm donors’ responses to a UK-wide online satisfaction survey. The survey focused on donors’ interactions with fertility clinic staff pre-, during, and post- donation. Basic cross-tabulation was performed on the data using online survey software. Textual data was read and extracts identified, which illustrated and expanded on the findings from the numerical data. Diagrammatic modeling was also utilised to analyse the textual data, with particular focus to relationships between the donors and clinic staff, the main activities within the gamete donation process, and how these activities may affect donor satisfaction with the gamete donation process. Results Donors expressed concern for the infertile couple and the resulting child; conveyed frustration at not receiving information on the expenses they could claim; felt lost in the system regarding the ease of making clinic appointments, and once made they were routinely not seen on time for these appointments. Donors also negatively commented on aftercare, the location and condition of the donation room, and information on contraception. In addition, Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome was frequently reported, with these egg donors believing that clinic staff were not concerned with their physical or emotional well-being, but were instead disproportionately focused on extracting the eggs. Conclusions The multifaceted notion of donors highlights the complexity inherent to the gamete donation process, which comprises various aspects of uncertainty in the donation system, and ambiguity in the donation process. Categorising donors as Altruist, Customer, and Patient, conveys the particular importance of staff communication and treatment in donor care. These categories are not mutually exclusive however, in that an individual donor may experience more than one of these perspectives during the course of their gamete donation journey. Finally, there were a number of exemplar cases, where donors reported high satisfaction throughout, and these correlated with them being given a single point of contact at the clinic. Subject to resource constraints, we suggest that this practice should be implemented throughout clinics in the UK, so that donors have access to dedicated clinic staff who not only support them emotionally and physically throughout the gamete donation process, but also ensure that communication is open, clear, timely, and consistent.
- Subjects :
- Questionnaires
Male
Health Care Providers
Emotions
Nurses
Social Sciences
lcsh:Medicine
Personal Satisfaction
Surveys
Systems Science
Egg donation
0302 clinical medicine
Gamete donation
Animal Cells
Surveys and Questionnaires
Medicine and Health Sciences
Psychology
Medical Personnel
lcsh:Science
High rate
030219 obstetrics & reproductive medicine
Multidisciplinary
Oocyte Donation
030504 nursing
Communication
Resource constraints
Obstetrics and Gynecology
Complex Systems
Spermatozoa
Tissue Donors
Fertility clinic
Professions
Contraception
Research Design
Donation
Physical Sciences
Female
Cellular Types
0305 other medical science
Research Article
Computer and Information Sciences
medicine.medical_specialty
Research and Analysis Methods
Affect (psychology)
03 medical and health sciences
medicine
Humans
Behavior
Survey Research
lcsh:R
Biology and Life Sciences
Social Support
Cell Biology
Sperm
United Kingdom
Health Care
Germ Cells
Family medicine
People and Places
Women's Health
Population Groupings
lcsh:Q
Single point
Mathematics
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 19326203
- Volume :
- 13
- Issue :
- 7
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- PLoS ONE
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....5d486d88bb3671a9ea87ea9b36686596