| AID | Artificial Insemination via Donor | Prior to the 1990’s donor conception was widely known as AID |
| Bioessentialist | | The philosophy that biology plays a larger role in determining human psychology or development than social, economic, or environmental factors. |
| BIPOC | | BIPOC stands for Black, Indigenous, and people of colour. |
| BMA | British Medical Association | The British Medical Association (BMA) is the trade union and professional body for doctors and medical students in the UK. |
| CIO | Charitable Incorporated Organisation | |
| Commercial DNA testing | | Examples common in the UK are Ancestry, 23andMe, MyHeritage, LivingDNA |
| ConnecteDNA | | The ConnecteDNA project was awarded funding by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) in order to explore how people involved in donor conception both use and are impacted by the rise in commercial DNA testing. Both Laura Bridgens and Roy Davis, Co-Chairs of the DCR Registrants Panel, sit on its advisory board. At the time of writing the project is still ongoing but it is expected to recommend that there needs to be ongoing information published about the broad implications of donor conception practices, follow up support and care for those impacted by unexpected DNA Test results and recognition for the impact on the relatives of those directly impacted as they are often felt they are not considered. |
| DC | Donor Conceived | |
| DC Practices | Donor Conceived Practices | |
| DCP | Donor Conceived People/ Person | |
| DCR | Donor Conceived Register. Formerly known as UK DonorLink (UKDL) | |
| DCR Registrants Panel Community | | A name given to the community that has grown around the DCR, that is to be renamed DCUK. |
| DCRRP | Donor Conceived Register Registrants Panel | The official group meeting held twice a year for the DCR Community. These meetings are chaired and minuted. |
| Digital DC research project | | The Digital DC (short for Digital Donor Conception) project is a four year, Wellcome Trust-funded research study which explores the practice of informal donor conception (IDC) in the digital age. Laura Bridgens, Co-Chair of the DCR Registrants Panel, sits on its advisory board. It aims to develop knowledge about this growing method of having a family, understand the factors which shape people’s views and experiences of it and ultimately improve support and outcomes for those who use IDC and their families |
| Direct to Consumer DNA testing | Same as Commercial DNA Testing | |
| Donor Conception | | A life-long intergenerational process that has far reaching social implications. |
| Donor Conception Awareness Day | | A day to raise the profile of Donor Conceived People on 27th April every year. https://donorconceptionawarenessday.com/ |
| Donor Conception Network | DCN | A supportive charity network of over 2,200, mainly UK-based, families with children conceived with donated sperm, eggs or embryos, those thinking about or undergoing donor conception procedures and donor conceived people.’ |
| Donors | | Those who ‘donate’ (or sometimes sell) their gametes (sperm, eggs or embryos) |
| DSL | Donor Sibling Link | In the UK Donor Sibling Link allows people who share the same donor (donor-conceived siblings) to exchange contact details with one another. It is run by the HFEA. |
| EM | | A child (who could not be named because of her age) who was part of the court case with Dr Joanna Rose who claimed that their human rights as DCP were being breached by being denied access to information about their Donor. |
| Equality Act 2009 | | Allowed greater access to fertility treatment for single people and same sex couples. |
| Gametes | | Reproductive tissue: Sperm, Egg or Embryos |
| Hetronormative | | Denoting or relating to a world view that promotes heterosexuality as the normal or preferred sexual orientation. |
| Hewitt Fertility Clinic | | Sub-contracted by LWHT to house the DCR |
| HFEA | Human Fertility and Embryo Authority | The UK’s independent regulator of fertility treatment and research using human embryos. |
| Human Fertility and Embryology Act (HFE Act) | | 1990 Act that created the UK fertility regular, HFEA |
| Intersectional DCP groups | LGBTQ+, infertile DCP, Black or BIPOC DCP | |
| Dr. Joanna Rose | | Was part of the court case with EM (a child who could not be named because of her age) who claimed that their human rights as DCP were being breached by being denied access to information about their Donor. |
| Joint Committee on Human Rights | | The Joint Committee on Human Rights consists of twelve members, appointed from both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, to examine matters relating to human rights within the United Kingdom, as well as scrutinising every Government Bill for its compatibility with human rights. |
| King’s College London | | The current register service uses this laboratory to analyse DNA test results |
| LWHT | Liverpool Women’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | Service provider of the Donor Conceived Register since 2019 |
| Narelle’s Law in Victoria, Australia | | Victoria’s world first legislation the Assisted Reproductive Treatment Bill 2016 which gave all donor conceived adults the equal right to identifying information regarding their genetic parents. |
| National Gamete Donation Trust | | The National Gamete Donation Service, now known as the SEED Trust, raises awareness of the national shortage of sperm, egg and embryo donors in the UK. NGDT was the previous service provider of the DCR. |
| National Infertility Awareness week | | A week in April to highlight the challenges some parents face when trying to have children. |
| ‘Open ID’ cohort | | A name given to the group of donor conceived people eligible to apply to the HFEA for identifying information about their parents donor once their turn 18. |
| OTR | Opening The Register | This process of accessing identifying information about donors is known as ‘Opening the Register’. |
| Patient Organisation Stakeholder Group | POSG | Led by HFEA it is made up of individuals who represent an established patient group, community, or charity. |
| Raising, Social, Legal Parents | | Recipient Parents who raised the DCP |
| Recipient Parents (RP) | | The intended parents who received the donated gametes |
| Right to Know | | A US charity advancing the fundamental human right to know our genetic identity through education, mental health initiatives and advocacy. |
| Talking Therapies | | Counselling, psychotherapy etc.. |
| Wellcome Trust | | The Wellcome Trust is a charitable foundation focused on health research based in London, in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1936 with legacies from the pharmaceutical magnate Henry Wellcome to fund research to improve human and animal health |
