Workshops for parents of DC children
Open to all members and non-members
These workshops are for all parents of donor-conceived children aged 8-12 years who have already started talking to their children about their donor-conceived origins. You may have previously attended our Talking and Telling workshop for younger children, but this is not necessary in order to take part in this one. The workshop is equally appropriate whether you had treatment in the UK or abroad, with a known, identifiable or anonymous donor (or donors) or if your treatment involved surrogacy. It is an opportunity to consider issues that your child is beginning to think about, and which may come up in the future.
You may also be thinking about: the move to secondary school; how puberty and adolescence may affect your child’s view of being donor-conceived; your child’s donor(s) and genetically related half or full ‘siblings’; the impact of the new DNA testing companies. You may have other concerns that you would like to bring to the workshop. If you are part of a couple, we strongly recommend you attend together to get the best from the workshop.
The maximum number on each in-person workshop is 18 and for online workshops is 14.
‘Money well spent in relation to looking after my son’s well-being, self-esteem and mental health.’
‘The workshop was immensely useful and so good to talk about things in a safe environment!’
At least two facilitators run each workshop; our facilitators are all long-standing members of DCN, have donor-conceived children themselves, either from treatment in the UK or abroad, and in addition bring wider relevant professional and personal experience. A third admin facilitator assists with running the online workshops..
The workshops provide a comfortable and confidential space to explore personal feelings and experiences, and how these impact on how we share information about donor conception with our children and with family and friends. We look at why it’s important to feel comfortable with talking about this subject, and how our hopes and anxieties impact on the way we support our children, as they consider what donor conception means to them. How can we keep the lines of communication open? What information do we need and how can we access the experiences of others?
To enable you to grow in confidence there are opportunities to practise what you might say in these situations. You will receive an email pack of information in advance and you will get the most out of the workshop by reading the contents before you attend. Many participants choose to share their email addresses or phone numbers with each other at the end of the workshop and remain in touch.
The in-person workshops are held on Saturdays from 9.30-4.30 so they are convenient for most working parents. Many are held at a venue near Kings Cross in London, with others taking place in regions across the UK and in Dublin. Due to the current situation, we are not planning to run any in-person workshops until April 2021.
The online workshops have a 1 hour introductory session on the Friday evening (7.30-8.30pm) as well as the Saturday session.
Please note times are UK times
If you have any questions as to which workshop will be appropriate for your family, please contact the DCN office on +44 (0) 20 7278 2608 or email events@dcnetwork.org, and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
The fee covers venue hire, facilitators’ fees and expenses, daytime refreshments and lunch, training development and office administrative costs.
The fee covers facilitators’ fees, IT administrator, IT costs, training development and office administrative costs.
Unfortunately we are not able to provide childcare for the in-person workshops and it is not suitable for children to be present during the online workshops as the workshop is very busy. Please arrange childcare for your sessions.
One month before the workshop date we will decide whether the numbers of booked attendees are sufficient, and will either confirm or cancel. If we cancel a full refund will be given. Cancellations received 5 weeks before the workshop date will be refunded in full. Cancellations notified 3-5 weeks before the date will be refunded at 50%. We are unable to refund cancellations received with less than 3 weeks’ notice.
It is wise not to book travel or accommodation until we have confirmation of the numbers for each individual workshop.
Workshop income
We offer two main workshops open to members and non-members, Destination Parenthood (for people considering donor conception) and Telling and Talking (for those with children 7 yrs & under).
These workshops are very important in helping participants explore the issues related to donor conception relevant to their stage of parenthood. The prices we charge for these workshops reflect the costs of providing them and we do not make a profit. They are specialised, highly sensitive, professionally run events where we limit the numbers who attend to ensure everyone attending has a really personal and valuable experience. This makes them a little more expensive than some other workshops but we consider them to represent extremely good value for money and the feedback from those who attend confirms this.
We appreciate that finding the money in one lump sum can be hard, so please contact events@dcnetwork.org to discuss instalment payments if that would be helpful.
Choose a workshop from this schedule and check availability.
If a workshop has free spaces, go ahead and book as spaces can go quickly. If there are no suitable dates or available places you can go on the waiting list or fill in this form selecting “Please contact me when new dates become available”
Your booking is only secure once we have received payment!
Following confirmation of your booking by email, and about two weeks prior to the workshop, we will ask you to complete a short survey online. This is a requirement of your attendance, and must be completed by each person (rather than each couple). You will also complete a short feedback form before you leave the workshop. Anonymised evaluations from these workshops may be used in DC Network materials or for funding applications.
For a full list of our terms and conditions, please click here.
If you are thinking of starting a family using a donor or donors, we also run Destination Parenthood workshops.
