Veerle Provoost: Do kids think of sperm donors as family?
Veerle Provoost: Ĉu infanoj pensi spermo donacantoj kiel familio?
Veerle Provoost studies genetic and social parenthood in the context of donor conception. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
about the sperm donation?
pri spermodonaco?
to as "biological fathers,"
"biologiaj patroj"
be using the word "father?"
uzi la vorton "patro?"
about the concept of parenthood.
pri la koncepto de parenteco.
about what I learned
pri kio mi lernis,
what matters most in a family,
plej gravas en familio,
looks a little different.
aspektas iom malsama.
of dealing with tough questions.
manierojn trakti dornajn demandojn.
the parents' uncertainties.
la necertecojn de la gepatroj.
at Ghent University Hospital,
per spermo de donacinto
de la Universitato de Gento.
at which we conducted interviews.
did not have good-quality sperm,
ne havis bonkvalitan spermon,
needed to find sperm elsewhere.
bezonis trovi spermon aliloke.
like parenthood and family.
kiel parencon kaj familion.
philosophical questions
filozofiajn demandojn
as possible to the interview,
je miaj sencoj kaj enhavo,
if it were an apple tree?
se ĝi estus pomarbo?
for everyone who, in their view,
por ĉiu kiu, laŭ ili,
and hang it wherever they wanted.
kaj pendigi ĝin kie ajn ili volis.
with a parent or a sibling.
kun parenco, frato aŭ fratino.
started mentioning the donor.
komencis menciante la doninton.
into the family?"
en la familio?"
who have spare seeds.
kiuj havas kromajn semojn.
mentioning the donor,
menciante la doninton,
using their own words.
uzante iliajn proprajn vortojn.
for the friendly man with the seeds,
por la amikeca viro kun la semoj,
up there with the others.
kun la aliaj.
because my family would not be here,
ĉar mia familio ne ekzistus,
constructed family tales --
prifamiliajn rakontojn -
with family narratives.
who made books --
throughout the treatment.
dum la traktado.
parking tickets in there.
la malsanulejajn parkadbiletojn.
and how deeply loved their child was.
profunde tiu infano estis amata.
that these children are doing fine.
ke tiuj infanoj fartas bone.
more problems than other kids.
ol aliaj infanoj.
to justify their decisions
pravigi siajn decidojn
would understand their reasons
komprenos iliajn kialojn
that their children might disapprove
ke iliaj infanoj malaprobu
of one mom, one dad
el unu panjo, unu paĉjo
but not part of our study.
sed formis parton de nia studo.
with his father,
kun sia patro,
the parents in our study feared.
la gepatroj en nia esploro timis.
and they made up.
kaj ili repaciĝis.
that is most interesting.
kiu estas plej interesa.
with the lack of a genetic link.
kun manko de genetika interligo.
is a little different.
estas iom malsama.
what's best for their child.
kio estas bona por sia infano.
long before they even were parents.
longe antaŭ ili iĝis gepatroj.
to the counselor,
the advice they were given.
la konsilojn, kiujn ili ricevis.
not unless he asks,
escepte se li insistos,
to children's questions.
al infanaj demandoj.
farita en fabriko?"
fine alvenas en la butiko.
aregon da demandoj,
and she's made in the same way.
lernejo, kaj ŝin oni faris same.
I just go and ask her."
Mi simple parolas al ŝi."
what they had in mind,
kion ili havis en la menso,
it is to be an open-communication family.
malferma komunikado por la familio.
we gather evidence first.
ni kolektas provojn.
what this pill is doing
kiel tiu pilolo agas
that is theoretically sound,
teorie sencoplenajn
that there is evidence for --
improves patients' lives.
la vivon de pacientoj.
would now like to offer you a paradox:
eldiri paradokson:
kio iris malĝuste;
to the warmth we found in those families.
kiun ni trovis en tiuj familioj.
and the trip to the farmer?
viziton al la farmisto?
por ili,
as members of families,
are warm relationships.
professionals to create those.
profesiuloj por krei ilin.
we can do with some advice.
oni uzu ies konsilojn.
that works for your family.
kiuj funkcias por via familio.
because you live your family life.
rilate al via propra familia vivo.
and your creativity,
kaj via kreemo,
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Veerle Provoost - BioethicistVeerle Provoost studies genetic and social parenthood in the context of donor conception.
Why you should listen
Veerle Provoost is a professor at the Bioethics Institute Ghent of Ghent University and a member of the Network on Ethics of Families. For her current research she coordinates a team of researchers who work on a study about genetic and social parenthood in the context of donor conception.
Using empirical research methods and Socratic conversation techniques, Provoost studies how professionals and ordinary people reason about health and how they make decisions in health-related contexts. In her courses on empirical research methods for ethics and bioethics, she teaches students how to look beyond mere experiences or general attitudes and to explore the principles and values that guide people's reasoning and decision-making. Her research shows that patients may bring their own sets of principles when making medical decisions, principles that may be very different from what medical staff anticipated and may feature around moral elements that may completely escape the attention of ethicists. For one, the moral reasoning of everyday people is centered more around relationships than around the principles that are at the core of scholarly bioethics.
In her talk TEDxGhent talk, she explains how we can gain valuable insights from families of children conceived with donor sperm and their views about what a family really is. These alternative families teach us what matters most in the decisions we all make for our children, whether or not they are genetically related to us. The parents and children she studied created their own family stories (about how their families were made) in highly diverse but very creative ways. However, some parents thought that they should strictly follow the advice of experts in their communication with their children. Because of that, they discounted their own competence. Based on her research experience, Provoost warns us for the negative effects of problematizing these families. Because no matter what a family looks like, or how it is made, parents should believe in their abilities and their creativity. As they know their families best, they are the real experts in how to find the best way to tell their own family story to their own child.
Veerle Provoost | Speaker | TED.com