MyGENESIS-PATH: Digital Program for Donor-Conceived People (MyGENESIS-Path)

July 15, 2026 updated by: Mariana Veloso Martins, Universidade do Porto

A Randomized Pilot and Feasibility Trial of a Digital Psychoeducational Intervention for Donor-Conceived Adults (MyGENESIS-PATH)

MyGENESIS-PATH is a self-guided digital psychoeducational intervention designed to support donor-conceived adults in navigating donor-conception-related information and uncertainty, DNA testing, identity, family relationships, disclosure, stigma, and expectations concerning donors and donor siblings.

This two-arm randomized pilot and feasibility trial will evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of delivering MyGENESIS-PATH and of conducting a future definitive randomized controlled trial. Sixty donor-conceived adults will be randomly allocated in a 1:1 ratio to immediate access to MyGENESIS-PATH or to a waitlist control condition.

Primary feasibility outcomes will assess recruitment, completion of the 4-week follow-up assessment, completeness of psychosocial outcome data, intervention uptake and completion, and completion of the immediate post-intervention feedback assessment. Intervention acceptability, usability, perceived usefulness, relevance, emotional manageability, and potential unwanted effects will be assessed among participants allocated to MyGENESIS-PATH.

Changes in perceived stress, psychological well-being, coping, and donor-conception-related identity from baseline to 4 weeks after randomization will be examined as exploratory outcomes. The study is not powered to detect definitive intervention effects.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

MyGENESIS-PATH is a structured, self-guided digital psychoeducational intervention developed as part of the MyGENESIS project. Its development was informed by existing evidence, psychological theory, qualitative and quantitative research with donor-conceived people, and consultation with people with lived experience and relevant professional expertise.

Before the randomized trial, a separate alpha-testing phase will be conducted with donor-conceived adults and expert reviewers to identify major problems relating to comprehensibility, relevance, emotional safety, usability, and technical functioning. Participants involved in alpha testing will not be eligible for the randomized pilot trial.

The registered study is a two-arm, parallel-group randomized pilot and feasibility trial involving 60 donor-conceived adults. After providing informed consent and completing the baseline questionnaire, participants will be randomized automatically within LimeSurvey in a 1:1 ratio to immediate access to MyGENESIS-PATH or to a waitlist control condition.

Participants allocated to the intervention group will receive access to MyGENESIS-PATH. The intervention comprises six psychoeducational modules, reflective activities, brief self-assessment check-ins, tailored pathways, and conditional coping exercises. Its content addresses:

donor-conception-related information and legal contexts; DNA testing and associated decisions and experiences; donor conception and identity; expectations concerning donors and donor siblings; family relationships, disclosure, support, and stigma; and integration, coping, psychological well-being, and support resources.

Brief check-ins embedded within the intervention are used to tailor coping content to participants' current experiences. Depending on participants' responses, they may receive no additional coping content, a moderate-support exercise, or an elevated-support exercise. Only one level of support is presented for each assessed domain.

Participants will be encouraged to complete the intervention within the access period. Immediately after reaching the end of the intervention, they will be invited to complete a brief feedback questionnaire assessing acceptability, usability, usefulness, relevance, emotional manageability, technical problems, and potential unwanted effects.

Participants allocated to the waitlist control group will not receive access to MyGENESIS-PATH during the initial study period. Both groups will complete psychosocial outcome assessments at baseline and 4 weeks after randomization. Waitlist participants will be offered access to MyGENESIS-PATH after completing the 4-week follow-up assessment.

The study will primarily assess the feasibility and acceptability of recruitment, randomization, intervention delivery and use, immediate feedback collection, participant follow-up, and psychosocial outcome-data collection. Psychological outcomes will be examined descriptively and exploratorily to assess their suitability, variability, and potential responsiveness for a future definitive trial.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

60

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • Portugal
    • Porto District
      • Porto, Porto District, Portugal, 4200
        • Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, University of Porto
        • Contact:

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Donor-conceived people
  • Aged 18 or over
  • Able to read and understand English
  • Provide informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Previous participation in the MyGENESIS-PATH alpha-testing phase
  • Unable to provide informed consent
  • Unable to complete the online study procedures

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: MyGENESIS Intervention
Participants randomized to this arm receive access to the MyGENESIS digital psychoeducational program, consisting of five sequential self-guided online modules.
Behavioral: MyGENESIS Digital Psychoeducational Program
A self-guided digital psychoeducational intervention based on cognitive-behavioral principles and the transactional model of stress.
No Intervention: Waitlist Control Group
Participants in this arm do not receive access to the MyGENESIS intervention during the study period and are offered access after completion of post-test assessments.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Recruitment feasibility
Time Frame: From recruitment opening to completion of recruitment, anticipated to be approximately 3 months
Number of eligible participants who provide informed consent, complete the baseline questionnaire, and are randomized during the planned recruitment period. The recruitment target is 60 randomized participants within the planned recruitment period. The number screened, number eligible, number consenting, number completing baseline, and mean number randomized per month will also be reported.
From recruitment opening to completion of recruitment, anticipated to be approximately 3 months
Acceptability of MyGENESIS-PATH
Time Frame: Immediately after completing the intervention.

Acceptability will be assessed immediately after intervention completion among participants allocated to MyGENESIS-PATH using participant ratings of perceived usefulness; perceived relevance; emotional manageability; willingness to recommend the intervention to another donor-conceived person.

Acceptability will also be explored qualitatively through optional open-ended feedback.
Immediately after completing the intervention.
Completion of the 4-week follow-up assessment
Time Frame: 4 weeks after randomization
Percentage of all randomized participants who submit the 4-week follow-up questionnaire. The numerator will be the number of randomized participants submitting the follow-up questionnaire, and the denominator will be all randomized participants. A completion rate of at least 80% will support progression without major modification.
4 weeks after randomization

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Psychological well-being
Time Frame: Baseline (pre-intervention) and 4 weeks post-randomization
Change in the WHO well-being index (WHO-5) total score (range 0-40, higher scores indicating greater well-being )
Baseline (pre-intervention) and 4 weeks post-randomization
Coping
Time Frame: Baseline (pre-intervention) and 4 weeks post-randomization
Change in coping responses as measured by the Brief COPE Inventory subscale scores (14 subscales, each ranging from 2-8, with higher scores indicating greater use of the respective coping strategy)
Baseline (pre-intervention) and 4 weeks post-randomization
Donor-conception identity
Time Frame: Baseline (pre-intervention) and 4 weeks post-randomization

Change in donor conception identity as measured by the Donor Conception Identity Questionnaire (DCIQ) subscale scores, including Concern and Preoccupation (range 8-40), Internalized Stigma (range 5-25), Pride and Acceptance (range 6-30), and Openness and Understanding (range 4-20)

Higher scores indicate greater endorsement of the respective donor conception identity domain.
Baseline (pre-intervention) and 4 weeks post-randomization

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Universidade do Porto

Collaborators

Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

August 18, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

October 31, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

November 30, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

February 17, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 3, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

March 9, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

July 17, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 15, 2026

Last Verified

July 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2023.14465.PEX (Other Grant/Funding Number: Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation (FCT, Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia))

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

De-identified individual participant data and supporting documentation (study protocol, statistical analysis plan, and informed consent form template) will be made available upon reasonable request to the principal investigator following publication of the primary results. Requests will be reviewed by the research team and will require a data sharing agreement and confirmation of ethical approval where applicable.

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Clinical Trials on Psychosocial Stress

Clinical Trials on MyGENESIS Digital Psychoeducational Program

Search Similar Trials

Sponsors and Collaborators

Medical Conditions

Drug Interventions

CROs by country

CROs in Slovenia

Conditions

Rare Diseases

Drug Interventions

Dietary Supplements

Sponsor/Collaborators

Locations

3
Subscribe