title: Attitudes towards gamete donation among couples undergoing in vitro fertilization.
abstract: The attitudes of 234 anonymous couples undergoing in vitro fertilization toward sperm and oocyte donation were explored by questionnaire. All the questionnaires were returned of which 222 (95%) were complete and analysed. A high proportion of couples found the use of donor sperm acceptable for therapeutic, diagnostic and treatment purposes (77%, 90% and 97% respectively) and 72%, 84% and 90% respectively were willing to donate oocytes for these purposes. Of potential oocyte donors 41% would agree to nonanonymous donation, 12% would wish to meet the recipient couple and although only 4% wanted to choose the recipient, a quarter of the couples would prefer a relative or friend as the recipient. Provision of nonidentifying information about the donor to the recipient couple was acceptable to almost 70% whereas 40% found giving the same information to the child acceptable.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Royal postgraduate Medical School, Hammersmith Hospital, London.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Oskarsson
authors.forename: E S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Dimitry
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Mills
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hunt
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Winston
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001290:Attitude; D035843:Biomedical Research; D003219:Confidentiality; D033001:Directed Tissue Donation; D005260:Female; D005307:Fertilization in Vitro; D015181:Gamete Intrafallopian Transfer / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D007316:Insemination, Artificial, Heterologous / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D018587:Oocyte Donation; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D012099:Reproductive Techniques / Q000523:psychology*; D013094:Spermatozoa; D014019:Tissue Donors / Q000523:psychology*; D009927:Tissue and Organ Procurement