Public perspective towards third-party reproduction in Iran

Sara Bamdad, Shiraz University
Aliyar Ahmadi, Shiraz University

Infertility treatment in the past two decades in Iran has been improved in such an unprecedented rate that perceived by experts as “the Iran ART revolution”. Centres making use of assisted reproductive technologies are currently more than 70 clinics offering all forms of modern treatment including third-party reproduction: Gamete and embryo donation as well as surrogacy. Despite the fact that using donor gametes have been legitimized in Iran by religious authorities and passed into law, little is known about public attitudes towards the application of these methods. The present study uses inferential analysis to examine the Iranian public attitudes towards Gamete donation and surrogacy. This questionnaire based study conducted in 2012 and included 405 Iranian residents (276 women and 129 men) of nearly all ages selected through cluster sampling method. We found that, public is reluctant to practice Egg donation and surrogacy. Moreover, they were more negative to the use of sperm donation, particularly men (nearly 70% of men rejected sperm donation). The explanatory variables including sex of respondents, marital status, age group, education, and occupational status are significant in the differences of public attitudes towards third-party donation. Results indicate that people in general are still conservative to the third-party donation methods. Therefore, Medical practitioners and legislators have to think about some precautions in order to reduce the diverse effects. Furthermore, public should be more informed of the procedures of Gamete donation and surrogacy. Key words: Infertility, Third-party Reproduction, Public attitudes, Iran