Feasibility Trial of the TELL Tool Intervention

Feasibility and Pilot Testing of the TELL Tool Among Gamete and Embryo Donation Recipient Parents

A radical paradigm shift is taking place where technology, notably the explosion in easy accessible direct-to-consumer genetic testing (e.g., 23andMe) and a high consumer interest in genealogy (e.g., Ancestry.com), has hijacked gamete (eggs, sperm) and embryo donation recipient parents' control over whether to inform their children about their donor conception. Historically, the practice of gamete donation has been shrouded in secrecy, however, the skyrocketing use of direct-to-consumer genetic testing means that at any point in an adult life, an uninformed donor-conceived person can learn their DNA does not match their presumed ancestry of their parents and family members, putting into question their genetic relatedness to their parents and launching a spiraling sequence of negative health consequences and trauma. Furthermore, the lack of one's knowledge about actual genetic heritage in the age of precision medicine can be enormously detrimental to health and can result in medical maltreatment, including death. To address this serious problem and in accordance with International Patient Decision Aid Standards, we developed a digital, tailored, multicomponent Tool to Empower ParentaL TeLling and Talking (i.e., TELL Tool). The objective of this R34 study is to examine the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effects of the TELL Tool intervention in a pilot randomized-controlled feasibility trial with 60 donor-recipient parents and 10 clinicians to determine intervention viability and inform a larger, efficacy trial. An eBook with content about good parenting principles serves as the attention control.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Parenting; Fertility Issues; Disclosure
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: TELL Tool Intervention; Behavioral: eBook Attention Control

Detailed Description

The feasibility trail will use a longitudinal, mixed-methods design that is guided by International Patient Decision Aid Standards and NIH Guidelines for pilot studies. The study design is necessary to achieve the objective of the study, which is to examine the feasibility and acceptability of the TELL Tool intervention in a pilot randomized-controlled feasibility trial to determine intervention viability and inform a larger, efficacy trial. There are three Specific Aims that are: Aim 1 determine feasibility of the study procedures (e.g., recruitment, retention) by pilot testing the TELL Tool using a 2-arm randomized-controlled trial (RCT) with 60 donor-recipient parents using pre- to post-test measures for disclosure intention, competence, and anxiety. (A pretesting of the measures will be implemented with 8 to 12 donor-recipient parents, who are not participants of the pilot RCT, prior to launching the RCT.); Aim 2 survey participating donor-recipient parents at 2 additional time points (4 and 12 weeks/months 1 and 3) post-intervention/attention control completion to obtain meaningful outcome data about actual parental disclosure to their donor-conceived children; and Aim 3 refine the study tools (e.g., TELL Tool, eBook) through post-intervention/attention control written evaluations with participating donor-recipient parents and cognitive interviews with 10 donor-recipient parents, who are a sub-sample of parents from our larger sample of parents, and 10 clinicians. The findings will inform the final protocol for a larger, efficacy trial.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 75
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Illinois
    • Chicago, Illinois, United States, 60605
      • University of Illinois at Chicago

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 21 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria Parents:

• Reside in the United States or one of its recognized territories
• Conceived 1 or more children via gamete (egg/sperm) or embryo donation who are currently between the ages of 1 - 16 years of age
• Have not informed their child(ren) about their donor conception origins
• Are 21 years-of-age or older
• English speaking

Inclusion Criteria Clinicians:

• Active practice as a healthcare professional (e.g., nurse, physician, psychologist, social worker)
• Provide education and/or counseling to gamete (eggs, sperm) and/or embryo donation recipient parents about disclosure to their children in the United States or one of its recognized territories
• Able to provide feedback and insight about new tools to assist gamete (eggs, sperm) and/or embryo donation recipient parents with disclosure to their donor-conceived children
• Are 21 years-of-age or older
• English speaking

Exclusion Criteria Parents:

• Have already disclosed the donor conception to their donor-conceived child or children
• Reside outside of the United States or one of its recognized territories

Exclusion Criteria Clinicians:

• Not directly involved in providing education and/or counseling to gamete (eggs, sperm) and/or embryo donation recipient parents about disclosure to their children
• Are a member of the research team

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Double

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: TELL Tool Group; Parents in the TELL Tool group will complete a decision support aid that has four interactive, multimedia and multicomponent modules that will be administered digitally. It will take parents about 60 minutes to complete the TELL Tool.	Behavioral: TELL Tool Intervention; A 60-minute session with decision support information delivered digitally to parents at their homes or other private, quiet location.; Other Names: TELL Tool
Active Comparator: eBook Attention-Control; Parents in the eBook attention-control group will complete one interactive, multimedia and multicomponent program that contains information about good parenting principles and is administered digitally. It will take parents about 60 minutes to complete the eBook attention control.	Behavioral: eBook Attention Control; A 60-minute session with good parenting principles delivered digitally to parents at their homes or other private, quiet location.; Other Names: eBook

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Number of Participants Who Disclosed the Donor Conception to Their Children	Participant's report of current state of disclosure to their child or children. Total score range = 1 (disclosed) 2 (not-disclosed)	Disclosure assessed at 4-week time point. Data for the 12-week time point was missing due to a technology issue.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in Disclosure Intention	Parent's report on the Survey about Parents' Disclosure Intention. No score range (13 items)	Baseline-Change in Disclosure Intention at Immediate posttest-Month 1-Month 3
Change in Disclosure Competence	Parent's report on the Perceived Competence Scale. Total score range = 4 (worse) to 28 (better)	Baseline-Change in Disclosure Competence at Immediate posttest-Month 1-Month 3
Change in Disclosure Anxiety	Parent's report on the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Emotional Distress - Anxiety - Computer Adapted Test (CAT). Total scores for CAT will be comparable across participants.	Baseline-Change in Disclosure Anxiety at Immediate posttest-Month 1-Month 3

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Acceptability of the TELL Tool and eBook	Participant's reports to the Acceptability Survey. No score range (19 items)	Immediate posttest
Acceptability of the TELL Tool, eBook and Study Protocol	Participant's responses to the Cognitive Interviews. No score range (Cognitive Interview Guide for Acceptability)	Month 15
Pretesting of the Measures	Participant's (8 to 12 participants who are not part of the pilot randomized controlled trial) responses to Cognitive Interviews. No score range. (Cognitive Interview Guide for Measures)	Before baseline

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Illinois at Chicago
• Collaborators: National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Patricia Hershberger, PhD, University of Illinois Chicago

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): July 26, 2021
• Primary Completion (Actual): September 30, 2022
• Study Completion (Actual): July 31, 2023

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: April 8, 2021
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 9, 2021
• First Posted (Actual): April 12, 2021

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimated): January 11, 2024
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 10, 2024
• Last Verified: January 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Urogenital Diseases; Genital Diseases; Infertility
• Other Study ID Numbers: 2020-1086; R34NR019278 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO
• IPD Plan Description: When we publish our results, electronic copies of publications will be deposited in PubMed Central within four weeks of acceptance by a journal. We will also submit our results to ClinicalTrials.gov Protocol Registration and Results System as required.

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No