A new Europe-wide survey launched during the 42nd Annual Meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology suggests broad public support for fertility treatment and several areas of reproductive research, while highlighting key areas where public understanding and opinion continue to develop, according to a July 5 report.
The report, titled 'Fertility, Embryo Research and Genome Editing: Public Attitudes in Europe,' was commissioned by the charity Progress Educational Trust, supported by the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE), and conducted by Ipsos. The survey explored public attitudes towards fertility treatment, embryo research, genome editing, surrogacy, and related topics across the United Kingdom, Netherlands, Spain, and Italy. It included 8,688 participants aged 16–75 years with more than 2,000 respondents in each country. Samples were designed to be representative of national populations according to age, gender, region, and working status.
Across all four countries surveyed, a majority supported state-funded fertility treatment for people experiencing infertility who wish to conceive. Support ranged from 54% in the Netherlands to 64% in Italy. The survey also found backing for using human embryos in research aimed at understanding or developing treatments for congenital diseases; support ranged from 41% in Italy to 48% in both the Netherlands and Spain. This exceeded opposition even in countries such as Italy where such uses are currently prohibited.
Views on emerging applications like genome editing were more nuanced. Support depended on intended use; eliminating severe or life-threatening conditions in embryos intended for pregnancy received between 46% support (Italy) and 55% (Netherlands). A majority of respondents from the UK, Netherlands and Spain supported this application despite it not being permitted currently in any surveyed country.
Professor Karen Sermon, Immediate Past Chair of ESHRE, said, "Reproductive medicine and embryo research are advancing rapidly, and these findings show the importance of understanding how the public views those developments. It is particularly striking that support for some applications extends beyond what is currently permitted in certain countries. As science advances it is essential that public awareness keeps pace so that decisions about future treatments are informed by both evidence and societal values."
The survey highlighted uncertainty regarding certain issues such as extending current limits on embryo research from fourteen days up to twenty-eight days; over a quarter (27%) said they did not know whether this limit was too long or too short. Generational differences appeared across topics including sex selection, access to fertility treatment, as well as attitudes toward embryo research overall.
