Veerle Provoost: Do kids think of sperm donors as family?
Veerle Provoost: I bambini considerano i donatori di sperma membri della famiglia?
Veerle Provoost studies genetic and social parenthood in the context of donor conception. Full bio
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domande complicate
about the sperm donation?
della donazione di sperma?
to as "biological fathers,"
chiamati "padri biologici",
be using the word "father?"
la parola "padre"?
about the concept of parenthood.
riguardanti il concetto di genitorialità.
about what I learned
what matters most in a family,
cosa conta di più in una famiglia,
looks a little different.
sembra un po' diversa.
of dealing with tough questions.
per affrontare le domande difficili.
the parents' uncertainties.
insicurezze dei genitori.
at Ghent University Hospital,
fertilità al Ghent University Hospital,
at which we conducted interviews.
in cui abbiamo condotto le interviste.
did not have good-quality sperm,
non aveva sperma di buona qualità,
needed to find sperm elsewhere.
dovevano prendere lo sperma altrove.
like parenthood and family.
i concetti di genitorialità e famiglia.
che ho chiesto loro,
philosophical questions
domande astratte e filosofiche
approccio scientifico.
as possible to the interview,
e il minor significato possibile,
if it were an apple tree?
se fosse un albero di mele?
for everyone who, in their view,
di carta per chiunque ritenessero
and hang it wherever they wanted.
e lo appendevano dove volevano.
with a parent or a sibling.
iniziava con un genitore o un fratello.
started mentioning the donor.
aveva menzionato il donatore.
into the family?"
entrato nella famiglia?"
dei semi buoni,
who have spare seeds.
che hanno dei semi di scorta.
mentioning the donor,
a menzionare il donatore,
using their own words.
usando le loro stesse parole.
for the friendly man with the seeds,
gentile con i semi di scorta,
up there with the others.
because my family would not be here,
la mia famiglia non sarebbe esistita,
constructed family tales --
dei racconti di famiglia,
che inseminava le vacche.
with family narratives.
fatto a mano.
who made books --
throughout the treatment.
provati durante il trattamento.
parking tickets in there.
parcheggio dell'ospedale.
tua famiglia a tuo figlio.
profondamente diverse,
and how deeply loved their child was.
fosse speciale e profondamente amato.
that these children are doing fine.
bambini stanno bene.
more problems than other kids.
rispetto gli altri bambini.
to justify their decisions
giustificare le loro decisioni
would understand their reasons
avrebbero compreso le loro ragioni
that their children might disapprove
che i bambini potessero disapprovare
il genitore non biologico.
of one mom, one dad
da una madre e da un padre
la storia di un ragazzo.
but not part of our study.
ma non faceva parte del nostro studio.
with his father,
the parents in our study feared.
i genitori del nostro studio.
and they made up.
e fecero pace.
that is most interesting.
è la reazione del padre.
with the lack of a genetic link.
che non fossi il padre biologico.
questo signore
is a little different.
sia un po' diversa.
in tutte le famiglie.
what's best for their child.
il meglio per i loro figli.
long before they even were parents.
ancor prima di diventare genitori.
visto il consulente
to the counselor,
attenzione alle sue parole,
per il verso giusto.
the advice they were given.
not unless he asks,
a meno che ce lo chieda,
to children's questions.
alle domande dei bambini.
è fatto nelle fabbriche?"
nella fabbrica."
mi ha detto,
un sacco di domande,
and she's made in the same way.
che è nata nel mio stesso modo.
I just go and ask her."
la chiedo direttamente a lei."
non si erano resi conto,
what they had in mind,
che avevano in mente,
il consulente aveva in mente
it is to be an open-communication family.
comunicare apertamente in famiglia.
we gather evidence first.
persone, prima raccogliamo le prove.
what this pill is doing
cosa farà la pillola
delle persone.
that is theoretically sound,
teoricamente sensati,
that there is evidence for --
essere delle prove,
improves patients' lives.
effettivamente le vite dei pazienti.
would now like to offer you a paradox:
vorrebbe offrirvi un paradosso:
di seguire i consigli.
cosa è andato storto;
to the warmth we found in those families.
che abbiamo trovato in quelle famiglie.
and the trip to the farmer?
la gita alla fattoria?
funzionano per loro,
as members of families,
come membri di famiglie,
are warm relationships.
sono le relazioni affettuose.
professionals to create those.
professionisti per crearle.
we can do with some advice.
farcela con qualche consiglio.
that works for your family.
funzionano per la vostra famiglia.
because you live your family life.
perché voi vivete nella vostra famiglia.
and your creativity,
e nella vostra creatività,
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