DONATED OVARIAN TISSUE IN EMBRYO RESEARCH AND ASSISTED CONCEPTION - THE VIEW OF WOMEN OF REPRODUCTIVE AGE

In response to widespread interest by the media, the Human Fertilisati on and Embryology Authority (HFEA) recently produced a document entitl ed 'Donated Ovarian Tissue in Embryology Research and Assisted Concept ion'. Interested organizations and the public were asked for their vie ws on the use of eggs or ovarian tissue obtained from live donors, cad avers or fetuses for both research and the treatment of infertility. F or 6 weeks from mid-March 1994, we made the HFEA document available to women attending a Family Planning/Well Woman Clinic (n = 1142), an In fertility Clinic (n = 241) and 200 women about to have a termination o f pregnancy, in an attempt to develop an understanding of the attitude s of the general public. We asked them to answer anonymously the quest ions posed by the HFEA. Over 89% of women thought that ways should be sought to increase the supply of eggs for research and treatment. Ther e were no significant differences in attitudes between the three group s, except that women seeking an abortion were significantly less likel y to support the use of cadavers as a source of eggs for either resear ch (48 versus 67%) or treatment (38 versus 59%) (P < 0.05 in both case s). Although all three groups of women found live donors the most acce ptable source (90% for research, 88% for treatment), the majority supp orted the use of fetal eggs/ tissue for both research (60%) and treatm ent (54%) of infertility. This study represents the first systematic a ttempt to determine the opinion of women who may not otherwise make th eir views known to the HFEA.