What Shapes Attitudes Towards Fertility Treatments in Present Day Europe?

The issue of medical treatment of fertility has special social relevance today for most of the European societies which are characterized by very low levels of fertility, and an increasing number of people not having children at all. Biotechnology makes parenthood available for those who used to be excluded from that earlier (medical problems, single women and same sex couples).

The aim of this research is to examine the attitudes of European society on in-vitro fertilization: Do they think that it is a stigma to become a parent without sexual intercourse or do they consider it as a possibility to help people to experience parenthood. The previous studies have already indicated that respondents’ gender, age, educational level and religious background determined whether they supported “fertility treatments”: women, younger people, those with higher educational level and non-religious background tended to be more supportive than others (Kailasam 2001, Scheneker 2005). This research would exceed that by focusing on how traditional gender roles, family beliefs and attitudes towards homosexuality can influence the acceptance of fertility treatments. The paper also seeks to answer the practical question whether the institutionalisation level of assisted reproductive technologies can affect the social acceptance of fertility treatments in Europe.

Our data come from the last wave (2008) of the European Value Study (EVS). The EVS provides insights into the ideas, beliefs, preferences, attitudes, values and opinions of citizens all over Europe by applying standardized questionnaires. In the fourth wave of EVS an artificial reproduction-related variable was introduced, which we chose as our dependent variable, measuring the acceptance level of the artificial insemination or in-vitro fertilization. As both individual and country level factors are taken into account the most appropriate statistical technique to be used are multilevel techniques.