Donor Conception and (Dis)closure in the UK: Siblingship, Friendship and Kinship

Abstract As many aspects of assisted conception become familiar, others emerge not only as unfamiliar, but also unpredicted. This article focuses on a newly emergent kin figure – the donor sibling. It suggests that the anthropology of friendship might have as much to tell us about the significance of the donor sibling in Euro-American kinship thinking as the anthropology of kinship. The article locates the donor-sibling in changes in UK legislation and policy that have increasingly promoted more transparency and ‘openness’ in donor conception.