Ashley Shepard ^{1 *} , Maisy Potter ²

AM J QUALITATIVE RES, Volume 9, Issue 4, pp. 310-326

https://doi.org/10.29333/ajqr/17324

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Abstract

Building on a prior phenomenological study of 33 participants, this article conducts a secondary analysis to explore the previously unexamined theme: anagnórisis. This paper introduces the term anagnórisis and anagnóric mirroring with the intent to weave these concepts into modern day understanding and to incite a conversation around clinical implications and standards of care. The term anagnórisis translates from Greek to mean “recognition.” However, Aristotle used this term to describe the moment when a character has a pivotal moment of understanding that everything they thought they knew has changed, but nothing about their day to day lives has changed. The author defines anagnóric mirroring as the event where, after a DNA discovery, an individual recognizes unchanged physical features from a different perspective, which can sometimes cause an internal conflict or connection as the person copes with the newly acquired understanding. Beyond genetics, parallels were drawn to health diagnoses, relationship ruptures, demonstrating anagnórisis as a universal human phenomenon. Anagnóric mirroring provides a conceptual anchor for understanding recognition events in reproductive medicine and beyond. Recognizing this construct may guide clinicians in validating identity disruption, supporting narrative reconstruction, and developing standards of care.

Keywords: Genetic mirroring, anagnóric mirroring, anagnórisis, misattributed paternity, donor conception

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