Our flagship events are a wonderful opportunity to learn, share and meet others in a similar family situation. They are also a wonderful opportunity for donor conceived children to explore their origins and meet others made ‘just like them’.
From the very beginning when our charity was founded in 1993, we’ve always run two conferences a year. These events give members the opportunity to spend a day together, meeting in person and sharing their hopes, fears and stories in a confidential and supportive space.
We know how important and valuable these events are. Wherever possible we offer childcare and children’s activities, so kids can attend too. It’s lovely for children to have a space to meet other children who are donor conceived. We’ve seen long-term friendships forged at the conferences. Not only that, but the event often acts as a prompt for some important and valuable conversations within the family.
The event includes presentations from speakers focusing on a range of donor conception-related subjects as well as small discussion groups. You can see the programme for our last London conference here and our recent Bristol conference programme here to get a sense of the topics we cover. We generally hold our spring conference in London in April or May, and our autumn conference elsewhere in the UK. We were in Sheffield in 2023, Edinburgh in 2024 and Bristol in October 2025. We try to move around the UK to ensure we offer a local option close to home for our members.
We also offer a virtual conference online too, allowing members who are unable to attend the in-person events to still benefit from the rich and interesting content. Do join our mailing list to find out about this and all our events.
Our London conferences are very much a family affair. We had a number of options for children at our London conference this year, including childcare with other donor conceived children, a creative session, and our Talking About Donor Stuff session with Dr Sharon Pettle. We know that these activities can really help stimulate and support conversations that the family are having at home.
‘We love coming to the conference and feeling part of a community of people with a particular shared experience. It is a moment to pause, come together and to reflect on how our own personal experience can be shaped by what we learn, and how we might help others on their journeys. Always worthwhile.’
‘For me and my daughter to meet families like ours is always a joy. To hear a donor speak about their motives and feelings was wonderful – more please.’
‘We have a one year old who was conceived using both egg and sperm donors. The conference made us feel like we are part of something bigger, it’s not just us who have a donor conceived child. Plus, it just normalized the whole issue. I feel less concerned about the fact that I have a donor conceived child – I feel much more relaxed about the whole thing – thank you!’
We’d love to welcome you to DCN as a member. You can find all the relevant information in our Membership section but please do get in touch if you still have questions.