The Significant Interest View

Abstract

This chapter presents the Significant Interest view, which aims to show that people who intend to conceive a child with donated gametes have a weighty reason to use an open donor. According to the Significant Interest view, the fact that a donor-conceived person is likely to be very interested in acquiring genetic knowledge gives intended parents a weighty reason to use an open donor. This is because parents ought to promote their children’s well-being by helping satisfy their child’s worthwhile significant interests, and a donor-conceived person’s interest in genetic knowledge is one such interest. This chapter explains what it means for an interest to be significant and worthwhile, the role that parents can legitimately play in shaping a child’s significant interests, and what the connection is between a person’s well-being and the satisfaction of their significant interests.