The personality of the child from what research shows will depend on both nature and nurture, so nature part would be 50% from the donor and 50% from the intended parents and the nurture part starts from the time the embryo implants inside the intended mother womb and the baby starts growing and then further nurturing of how we bring up the child. So, the personality will be involved from both the donor but major parts of it will probably be dictated by how the parents bring up that child.
When choosing an egg donor, one of the most important parts is that we definitely want you to choose the donor that you feel comfortable with and see the donor characteristics that are important to you. I believe for most of us we want the donor to resemble us to some degree. Then come a lot of questions such as, what is genetics and what is not. Some parts are genetics like hair colour and so on, definitely the ethnicity, but it’s always a match between the egg donor, the sperm and within the egg donor herself. We also try to provide this agency to a lot of family members because the donor will look like one of her family members, whether it’s the mom and the dad or a combination of this. So I do think that external characteristics have a genetic component and people try to match them, so if everyone in the family has blue eyes, she is likely to have blue eyes, her skin colour, if most of the family is white and so on. Then there are the other aspects like academic achievements which are very controversial. There is a big question of whether it is nature or nurture, what is going to influence it, is it really the fact that everyone in her family has a degree, that it will make her a more intelligent daughter. Or is it nurture? I don’t really feel that one is the right answer, I believe that it is a combination of both. I feel there is some genetic component but not as important as to how a child is brought up in this world so it’s a combination of both of them.
But the most important thing is that this is your decision, so at the end of the day, couples, singles, male female, should feel comfortable choosing the donor they want and there shouldn’t be any sense of feeling uncomfortable looking for a donor with academic achievement, not at all. You have your own struggle of needing an egg donor and at least you can choose the genes. Those choices are very personal and everyone should feel comfortable with them and ultimately choose the egg donor that they like.
This is a complex question. We do not have enough scientific evidence to answer this question. You may know some families with many children who have entirely different personalities. During our childhood, we tend to copy what we see. In some matters, our personality is closely linked to the education and upbringing we receive from our parents. When you are a parent, it is exciting to see how your child is growing and developing in terms of their personality and you will be excited to see their unique development.
