Table 3.

Content analysis of importance of genetic relatedness

Viewed genetic relatedness as important	Category	N	Examples
No	Plan to adopt or foster children	21	“It doesn’t matter, I’m hoping to adopt”. “I feel it is selfish to prioritise a genetic relationship when there are so many children in the world without families”
No	A genetic relationship is not important	14	“Never saw why it made any difference”. “It’s not necessary for a child to be genetically related to their parents to have a normal and loving home environment”.
No	Perception of having ‘bad genes’	10	“I don’t want to pass on genetic mental illness”. “I have terrible genes and do not want them to continue”.
Yes	Pragmatic acceptance that genetic relatedness is not possible	19	“It is important to me, but ultimately not likely to be possible so I’m working on letting that go”. “I understood as I came to terms with my gender that I’d never bear my own children”.
Yes	Would like the option of having a genetic relationship	13	“I would like the option to have biological children”. “I want at least one other biological child for personal reasons, but it’s not actually important to me otherwise”.
Yes	Fine either way	14	“Ideally I would like to have another genetic child but I would also be happy to help raise a non genetic child”. “Both me and my partner would like children to share our genetics but if that’s not possible we want to adopt”.