The legal and financial issues related to in vitro fertilization are solved differently from country to country
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© Getty Images
Health education is needed
The nine months started with the design of the study, which aimed to investigate attitudes toward childbearing at the international level with 64 questions online. Over 10,000 people from 18 countries took part in the study. “We invited people to complete the questionnaire mainly through announcements on social networks and websites that deal with pregnancy,” says Bunting.
One finding of the study was that Helen and Steve are a completely normal couple. “Fewer than half of those questioned knew that a couple is considered infertile if it remains childless for a year despite trying to conceive” says Bunting. “And if the couple is over 35, this period is reduced to as little as half a year.” This lack of information is not necessarily an issue of schooling, she says. It also depends on how well the healthcare system of the country in question educates people. Uncertainty about reimbursement for the cost of infertility treatment is one of the reasons why couples don’t pursue the subject early on. “But it can’t be put off indefinitely,” says Bunting, in a reference to the biological clock and the higher risks accompanying a pregnancy as the parents grow older.
The study also brought to light some surprising facts about the importance ascribed to parenthood in different societies. “It is considered most important in Russia, France, India, and Brazil, and least important in Japan,” the psychologist found. To counter any doubts, she immediately adds, “Yes, we were very surprised at the attitude in Japan too. Professor Boivin will now follow up with a detailed study in Japan to determine whether people really meant what they said.” The study offers plenty of insights for policymakers. Economic security, for example, was very high on the “internal checklist” of potential parents in Germany and Denmark when they closely examined their interest in having children.
“But the decision to have children is always completely personal,” says Helen, who is now devoting herself full-time to raising Nathan and Scarlet. “Steve and I, at any rate, are happy that IVF helped us to have children, and we experience that happiness every day.”
The nine months started with the design of the study, which aimed to investigate attitudes toward childbearing at the international level with 64 questions online. Over 10,000 people from 18 countries took part in the study. “We invited people to complete the questionnaire mainly through announcements on social networks and websites that deal with pregnancy,” says Bunting.
One finding of the study was that Helen and Steve are a completely normal couple. “Fewer than half of those questioned knew that a couple is considered infertile if it remains childless for a year despite trying to conceive” says Bunting. “And if the couple is over 35, this period is reduced to as little as half a year.” This lack of information is not necessarily an issue of schooling, she says. It also depends on how well the healthcare system of the country in question educates people. Uncertainty about reimbursement for the cost of infertility treatment is one of the reasons why couples don’t pursue the subject early on. “But it can’t be put off indefinitely,” says Bunting, in a reference to the biological clock and the higher risks accompanying a pregnancy as the parents grow older.
The study also brought to light some surprising facts about the importance ascribed to parenthood in different societies. “It is considered most important in Russia, France, India, and Brazil, and least important in Japan,” the psychologist found. To counter any doubts, she immediately adds, “Yes, we were very surprised at the attitude in Japan too. Professor Boivin will now follow up with a detailed study in Japan to determine whether people really meant what they said.” The study offers plenty of insights for policymakers. Economic security, for example, was very high on the “internal checklist” of potential parents in Germany and Denmark when they closely examined their interest in having children.
“But the decision to have children is always completely personal,” says Helen, who is now devoting herself full-time to raising Nathan and Scarlet. “Steve and I, at any rate, are happy that IVF helped us to have children, and we experience that happiness every day.”
On July 25, 1978, Louise Joy Brown from the UK was the first child to be born after having been conceived outside of the mother's body. Robert Edwards (left) and Patrick Steptoe (right) are considered the developers of in vitro feritilization
© Getty Images
© Getty Images
| IVF – the roundabout way to childbearing |
| If a couple has been unable to have a child, in vitro fertilization (IVF) can help. There are various methods for performing this procedure, but they have one thing in common: the insemination occurs outside of the body (“in vitro” means “in glass”). The IVF is usually preceded by a medical treatment for the woman, as a result of which multiple eggs are brought to maturity at once. Ovulation is likewise triggered hormonally, and the mature eggs are then removed and inseminated externally with the sperm of the man. The two- to five-day-old embryos are implanted into the uterus of the future mother, and if the procedure is successful it leads to a normal pregnancy.
The legal and financial issues surrounding IVF are solved differently from country to country. Louise Joy Brown from Manchester in Great Britain, who was born on July 25, 1978, was the first child conceived outside of the mother’s body. Robert G. Edwards, one of the two physicians who developed IVF, was awarded the Nobel Prize in medicine in 2010 for this achievement. Merck Serono began supporting this development at a very early stage through research and the production of the hormones used in the process. |
