Meet the Team
Leah Gilman
The Digital DC project is led by Leah Gilman, a Wellcome Trust Research Fellow based in the Department of Sociological Studies at the University of Sheffield. Leah’s research explores how people negotiate family and reproductive relationships in the context of social, legal and technological change. She has been researching donor conception for over ten years, analysing the impact of the move to identity-release donation in the UK and the rise of DNA testing websites, before beginning the Digital DC study. Leah is co-author of the book Donors: Curious Connections in Donor Conception, as well as numerous articles, blogs, films and other resources(listed here under ‘publications’ and ‘partnerships, engagement and impact’).
Alexus Davis
Alexus is a Research Assistant for the Digital DC Study, based in the Department of Sociological Studies at The University of Sheffield. She is also a doctoral candidate at The University of Manchester in the department of Sociology and a Research Associate with the Centre for Personal Financial Wellbeing (Aston University). Her research considers narratives of maternal care, inequalities, maternal phenomenology, and creative methods. She is the author of the poetry collection Cartoon Logic, Cartoon Violence (Baobab Press, 2022), as well as two chapbooks. Alexus is also a full-spectrum birth doula.
Kate Weiner
Kate Weiner is project mentor for the Digital DC study and a Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Sheffield. Her research explores how biomedical knowledge is constructed and the interplay between lay and professional knowledge, as well as how people use technologies in everyday healthcare. Kate has led and co-led a number of externally-funded research projects, exploring, for example, genetics, self-monitoring health practices and racialised categories in prescriptions.
Advisory Board
Our advisory board includes people with both personal and professional experience of donor conception (both clinic-based and informal). The board provides guidance and support to the research team with a view to ensuring that the research ultimately has a positive impact for the communities we are working with.
Erika Tranfield
Mel Johnson
Following her own journey to solo parenthood, Mel Johnson, the Solo Parenthood Coach created The Stork and I to support people following this path to parenthood. She provides one to one and group coaching as well as a Solo Parent Membership community for people considering using a donor to become a solo parent as well as those who are looking to thrive as solo parents. She is also the host of the Stork and I Podcast.
Jenny Okona-Mensah
Jenny Okona-Mensah is a Mental Health Therapist, Community Activist, Fertility and Reproductive Health Advocate.
She is passionate about tackling inequalities through community engagement, research, and empowering communities in that process. Bringing together insights and experiences from community members, stakeholders, academics, and policy makers to improve awareness, access, experiences, and outcomes.
Her work in health and social justice seeks to create cultural shifts in the intersectional marginalisation of BPOC communities.
She leads on the Ethnic Minorities Communities Project, for Fertility Network UK. Where she advocates for equitable access to provision of fertility health services for ethnically diverse communities.
Helen Clarke
Helen is Principal Embryologist and HFEA Person Responsible for Jessop Fertility, Sheffield. She has been recruiting sperm donors and managing their donor bank since 2005 and was involved in updating the UK gamete donor screening guidance in 2019.
Angela Pericleous-Smith
Angela Pericleous-Smith is Chair of the British Infertility Counselling Association (BICA), counsellor representative for the British Fertility Society (BFS) and has specialised in fertility counselling both within the NHS and private practise since 2004.
Angela has written and spoken about the emotional impact of infertility and has co-authored BICA Guidelines for Good Practice in Fertility Counselling 4th Ed. 2019 and Counselling in Surrogacy in UK Licensed Centres (2021). Her recent research and writing have focused on Covid-19’s impact on UK counselling provision and patients’ experiences, The emotional, physical and psychological impact of infertility in the workplace and Counselling challenges associated with donor conception and surrogacy. Angela is driven to improve professional standards in fertility counselling; the psychological support, provision and accessibility of information and fair treatment for patients
Debbie Howe
Debbie Howe is the Information Officer for the British Infertility Counselling Association (BICA) and has been a member of the Executive Committee for over 6 years. Debbie has been working as a fertility counsellor since 2015 in NHS and private clinics. Debbie provides supervision/mentorship for fertility counsellors who are seeking their accreditation with BICA.
Laura Bridgens
Laura Bridgens is a late discovery donor conceived adult and co-chair of the Donor Conceived Register (DCR) Registrants Panel. She is in the early stages of forming a new peer-led charitable organisation Donor Conceived UK to represent donor conceived people, donors and others affected by donor conception practises in the UK. Prior to her discovery Laura was an active founding member of CALMtown.org which developed a community-led approach to mental health.
Yaël Ilan
Yael works for the Donor Conception Network in a multifaceted role which includes membership and volunteer coordination and research liaison. She has been at the organisation since 2015, having previously worked as a research associate within a small psychology research group at a number of UK universities.
Hayley King
Hayley is an advocate, educator and founder of the information sharing website ‘All Things Donor Conception’. Hayley is a donor conceived adult, with her parents undergoing pioneering IVF treatment in the early 1980’s with an anonymous sperm donor. In a twist of fate, she is also the mother of donor conceived twins whom she raises alongside her wife. Hayley continues to support other parents who have used a donor conception to build their families as part of her role as Operations Manager at Paths to Parenthub, and contributes regularly to the online community via her social media platforms.