This workshop is for parents of donor-conceived children aged 0-7 years. Not sure how to begin a conversation with your child about their donor conception story? Maybe you’re unsure about whether telling is the right thing to do? Or perhaps you’re concerned about who to tell and not tell in your life? Our Telling & Talking workshop is designed specifically with your needs and questions in mind. It provides a safe and confidential space for you to explore the benefits of telling and how to get started. This workshop is equally appropriate whether you had treatment in the UK or abroad, with a known, identifiable or anonymous donor or if your treatment involved surrogacy. You may be wondering how to start talking to your child about their donor-conceived origins, or you may have already begun this process and would like to explore what may come up in the future.

Join us for our 2026 online members’ conference! Building on the success of our London conference in the spring, we’ll be looking again at the theme of telling and talking about donor conception – not just with children, but with family, friends and the wider world. We’re looking forward to an informative day of expert talks, personal stories and practical guidance. As an online event, it’s easier than ever to fit the conference around your schedule. Tickets start from just £35 and, if you can’t attend live, you’ll receive a watch-again link so you can catch up in your own time. **Our fantastic programme includes:** * Parent Panel – Anita, Colum and Jane will be sharing their experiences of telling their children and talking with others about donor conception * Donor Conceived Perspective – DC triplet Rebecca Coxon will be talking about her complex story of family secrets and the impact of late telling * Telling and Talking Challenges – Astrid Indekeu and Jane Ellis explore some of the more difficult scenarios parents can find themselves in with regard to telling and talking (e.g. SEN children, divorce) * Elaborative Reminiscing – Javiera Navarro-Marshall will be presenting recent research on how sharing the family story (telling and talking) can help build autobiographical memories and identity development in children The event will be a webinar so attendees won’t be visible to each other and it will be hosted by Mark, one of our Telling & Talking workshop facilitators and parent through donor conception. **How much does it cost?** Early bird tickets for the online conference start at £35 for members. If you’re not a member, we have a special ticket for you which includes 6 months’ of DCN membership and this ticket costs £75. After 17 September, tickets will cost £45 and £85 for members and non-members respectively. **When and where is the conference?** The conference is on Saturday 17th October and is being held in the afternoon to make it more accessible to those outside the UK and those who have activities on a Saturday morning. The webinar runs from 2-5.30pm with an optional bonus Meet & Connect session from 5.30-6pm for those who’d like to turn cameras on and meet others. It’ll take place online via Zoom but we know that life gets busy so we’re also offering a watch-again link for two weeks if you can’t join us on the day. Please note that the Meet & Connect session won’t be recorded. **Who is it for?** It’s appropriate whether you’re at the early stages of considering donor conception or have children already. It will also be useful for professionals working in a field connected to donor conception who would like to better understand this way of building a family. **Not had children yet?** If you haven’t had children yet, you might also want to consider our in-person event in London aimed at prospective parents [Getting Started 21 November 2026](https://bookwhen.com/dcn-events/e/ev-sa984-20261121110000). **Media at our conferences** It’s really important to us that our conferences and events provide a safe, confidential space for us to discuss what can be very personal matters. We therefore do not allow journalists or media to attend unless they are joining in a personal capacity as a parent or prospective parent via donor conception or are a donor conceived adult. Everything discussed within our events is confidential and may not be reported or shared outside of the event.

This workshop is for parents of donor-conceived children aged 0-7 years. Not sure how to begin a conversation with your child about their donor conception story? Maybe you’re unsure about whether telling is the right thing to do? Or perhaps you’re concerned about who to tell and not tell in your life? Our Telling & Talking workshop is designed specifically with your needs and questions in mind. It provides a safe and confidential space for you to explore the benefits of telling and how to get started. This workshop is equally appropriate whether you had treatment in the UK or abroad, with a known, identifiable or anonymous donor or if your treatment involved surrogacy. You may be wondering how to start talking to your child about their donor-conceived origins, or you may have already begun this process and would like to explore what may come up in the future. As a single or lesbian woman, we recognise that your experiences are different from the time your pregnancy becomes public knowledge, and that attending our workshop even before your baby is born might be helpful for you. All of our single women and lesbian couples’ workshops have a small number of places for pregnant women.

This workshop is for parents of donor-conceived children aged 0-7 years. Not sure how to begin a conversation with your child about their donor conception story? Maybe you’re unsure about whether telling is the right thing to do? Or perhaps you’re concerned about who to tell and not tell in your life? Our Telling & Talking workshop is designed specifically with your needs and questions in mind. It provides a safe and confidential space for you to explore the benefits of telling and how to get started. This workshop is equally appropriate whether you had treatment in the UK or abroad, with a known, identifiable or anonymous donor or if your treatment involved surrogacy. You may be wondering how to start talking to your child about their donor-conceived origins, or you may have already begun this process and would like to explore what may come up in the future.

Event for prospective parents thinking about using egg, sperm or embryo donation. If you’re thinking about using donor conception, you probably have lots of questions. This event is the perfect place to start getting answers. Join us and hear from: * __An embryologist__ from a UK clinic giving a really informative overview of the medical side of things. We always get fantastic feedback about this session, which provides an essential foundation with lots of time for questions. * __Donor conceived people__ talking about their experiences. How do the children feel? We know this is something lots of prospective parents wonder about. This event provides a rare opportunity to hear from them in person and ask questions. Not to be missed! * __Parents__ talking through their decision-making and describing family life once children arrive. Nothing beats hearing from people with real life experience. 𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿? This event is suitable for everyone at the start of their donor conception journey, for same-sex and heterosexual couples and for those planning to become single parents. It’s a friendly, inclusive chance to meet others at a similar stage in a relaxed environment at this in-person event. 𝗔𝗳𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹: The full day costs just £80 per person or £140 per couple when booked before 22 October (£95 and £170 after that date) and the 11am start time makes it easy to get to Waterloo and home in a day. This event is a Donor Conception Network event so you can rest assured that all information will be impartial and based on our experience as a charity working with donor conception families for the past 30+ years. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗺𝗲? You can find the full programme with timings below. 𝗙𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗸 The ticket price includes tea, coffee and cake but not lunch; this helps us keep costs down and means you can choose and order whatever you’d like separately. You can find the pub’s menu here: https://www.thehercules.co.uk/food/menus. You are also free to bring some lunch of course but we hope you’ll stay with us during the break as it will be a great opportunity to chat with other attendees on dedicated tables by family and donation type. Sharing time with others on a similar journey to yourself can be incredibly valuable.