Religion and social factors top IVF concerns

Although one in 8 couples experience fertility issues and many of them turn to Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) to help them have a child, usage varies significantly across Europe. A new Oxford study has shed light on some of the reasons behind this - pinpointing moral and social acceptance of the treatment and religion as key. Previous research has mainly focused on the economic issues that can affect ART usage, such as a country's wealth and health insurance costs. But, in new research published in Human Reproduction, scientists from the Oxford University Department of Sociology and Nuffield College, have for the first time assessed the relative importance of the role that economic, demographic and cultural normative factors play in the process. The study compares the prevalence of ART usage across 35 European countries since 2010, which is the number of ART cycles, per million women of reproductive age (15-44 years). The findings revealed that although economic factors and national wealth are important, it is not merely affordability that determines ART use. Rather, ART treatments were more widely used in countries where it was considered culturally and morally acceptable to do so.