title: Bioethical dilemmas of assisted reproduction in the opinions of Polish women in infertility treatment: a research report.
abstract: Infertility Accepted treatment is replete with bioethical dilemmas regarding the limits of available medical therapies. Poland has no legal acts regulating the ethical problems associated with infertility treatment and work on such legislation has been in progress for a long time, arousing very intense emotions in Polish society. The purpose of the present study was to find out what Polish women undergoing infertility treatment think about the most disputable and controversial bioethical problems of assisted reproduction. An Attitudes towards Bioethical Problems of Infertility Scale was constructed specifically for this study. Items were taken from the Bioethics Bills currently under discussion in Polish Parliament (Seym). 312 women were enrolled in the study. Women experiencing infertility favoured more liberal legislation. Participants disagreed, for example, with the following regulations: prohibition of embryo freezing, prohibition of preimplantation genetic diagnosis of embryos, age limits for women using in vitro fertilisation and prohibition of in vitro fertilisation for single women. The opinions of patients undergoing infertility treatment are an important voice in the Polish debate on the Bioethics Bills.
authors.affiliation: Social Sciences Institute, Katowice School of Economics, Harcerzy Wrzesnia 3, Katowice 40-659, Poland. a.dembinska@interia.pl
authors.forename: Aleksandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dembinska
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D015925:Cryopreservation / Q000941:ethics; D005260:Female; D005307:Fertilization in Vitro / Q000941:ethics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D006291:Health Policy / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000639:trends; D018452:Homosexuality, Female; D006801:Humans; D007246:Infertility / Q000628:therapy; D017533:Marital Status; D011044:Poland; D019836:Preimplantation Diagnosis / Q000941:ethics; D011639:Public Opinion; D027724:Reproductive Techniques, Assisted / Q000941:ethics* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*