Veerle Provoost: Do kids think of sperm donors as family?
Verlee Provoost: As crianças consideram doadores de esperma como parte de sua família?
Veerle Provoost studies genetic and social parenthood in the context of donor conception. Full bio
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enfrentam questões difíceis
about the sperm donation?
sobre doação de esperma?
to as "biological fathers,"
são chamados de "pais biológicos",
be using the word "father?"
about the concept of parenthood.
sobre o conceito de paternidade.
about what I learned
what matters most in a family,
o que é mais importante em uma família,
looks a little different.
sejam um pouco diferentes.
of dealing with tough questions.
de lidar com questões difíceis.
the parents' uncertainties.
as incertezas dos pais.
at Ghent University Hospital,
no Hospital da Universidade de Ghent,
at which we conducted interviews.
nos quais realizamos entrevistas.
did not have good-quality sperm,
não tinha um esperma de qualidade
needed to find sperm elsewhere.
precisam de um doador.
definem paternidade e família.
like parenthood and family.
philosophical questions
filosóficas e abstratas
as possible to the interview,
e conteúdo mínimo para a entrevista,
if it were an apple tree?
caso ela fosse uma macieira?"
for everyone who, in their view,
para cada um que, em sua visão,
and hang it wherever they wanted.
e pendurar onde quisessem.
with a parent or a sibling.
com um dos pais ou com um irmão.
started mentioning the donor.
mencionou o doador.
sobre a história de seu nascimento.
into the family?"
se tornou parte da família?"
who have spare seeds.
que têm sementes extras.
e pegou duas sementes do pote,
mentioning the donor,
a falar sobre o doador,
using their own words.
usando suas próprias palavras.
for the friendly man with the seeds,
o homem bondoso das sementes,
up there with the others.
que minha família existisse.
seria muito triste,
because my family would not be here,
constructed family tales --
contos de família,
inseminar vacas.
with family narratives.
as histórias de família.
who made books --
throughout the treatment.
e sensações ao longo do tratamento.
parking tickets in there.
de estacionamento do hospital.
a história de sua família.
and how deeply loved their child was.
e amada era sua criança.
that these children are doing fine.
que essas crianças estão bem.
more problems than other kids.
que as outras crianças.
to justify their decisions
também queriam justificar suas decisões.
would understand their reasons
entendessem as suas razões
that their children might disapprove
que as crianças não aceitassem
muito heteronormativa e genetizada;
of one mom, one dad
é formada por uma mãe, um pai,
por genes aos seus filhos.
but not part of our study.
mas não foi parte do estudo.
with his father,
the parents in our study feared.
em nosso estudo temiam.
and they made up.
e eles se reconciliaram.
that is most interesting.
foi a reação de seu pai.
with the lack of a genetic link.
com a falta de ligação genética.
is a little different.
ser um pouco diferente.
em todas as famílias.
what's best for their child.
o melhor para seu filho.
long before they even were parents.
antes mesmo de se tornarem pais.
to the counselor,
the advice they were given.
dos conselhos que receberam.
not unless he asks,
a não ser que ele pergunte,
às perguntas das crianças.
to children's questions.
e como o leite chega no mercado.
and she's made in the same way.
que foi feita da mesma maneira que eu.
I just go and ask her."
eu apenas pergunto a ela".
what they had in mind,
o que eles tinham em mente,
it is to be an open-communication family.
em uma família aberta a conversas.
we gather evidence first.
coletamos evidências primeiro.
what this pill is doing
that is theoretically sound,
um conselho teoricamente confiável
that there is evidence for --
baseado em uma evidência,
improves patients' lives.
melhore a vida dos pacientes.
would now like to offer you a paradox:
gostaria de oferecer-lhes um paradoxo.
de seguir conselhos.
com o que deu de errado.
to the warmth we found in those families.
que encontramos nessas famílias.
and the trip to the farmer?
e da viagem até a fazenda?
que dão certo para eles,
as members of families,
como membros de famílias,
are warm relationships.
de relações afetuosas.
professionals to create those.
profissionais para criá-las.
we can do with some advice.
alguns conselhos ajudariam.
that works for your family.
que funcionem com sua família.
because you live your family life.
pois você convive com sua família.
and your creativity,
e sua criatividade,
fazer isso por conta própria.
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