title: Zoroastrians support oocyte and embryo donation program for infertile couples.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The main goal was to evaluate the attitudes and knowledge of Zoroastrians living in Iran towards oocyte donation (OD) and embryo donation (ED) program.
  
  
  METHODS
  This cross sectional study consisted of 318 Zoroastrians (n=175 for OD and n=143 for ED) of both sexes. The questionnaire form comprised two parts of general demographic characteristics of the participants and twenty multiple-choice questions about attitude and knowledge of participants towards OD and ED. For statistical analysis, the chi-square test was applied for comparison of data generated from ED and OD groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Majority of the participants supported OD (69.7%) and ED (71.3%) for infertile patients. In addition, 40% and 42% preferred donation program (OD and ED, respectively), compared to adoption. About 60% of the respondents believed that the donors have no right to find the child and claim it as their own. In addition, more than half of the respondents thought that the recipients of oocyte/embryo should never know the name and address of the donors. More than half of the participants did not know whether their religion accepts donation program or not. Approximately, 80% of respondents supported psychological counseling for both donors and recipients. Moreover, about 56% of the participants necessitated the advertisement on OD/ED program in the mass media.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our preliminary data showed that Zoroastrians supported both OD and ED program equally for infertile couples.
authors.affiliation: Research and Clinical Center for Infertility, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran.
authors.forename: Iman
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Halvaei
authors.affiliation: Research and Clinical Center for Infertility, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad Ali
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Khalili
authors.affiliation: Research and Clinical Center for Infertility, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran.
authors.forename: Saeed
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ghasemi-Esmailabad
authors.affiliation: Research and Clinical Center for Infertility, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nabi
authors.affiliation: College of Health, Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran.
authors.forename: Farimah
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Shamsi
keywords: Embryo donation; Iran; Oocyte donation; Zoroastrians