Controversial IVF passage in Polish school textbook pulled by publisher

A passage in a text book at the centre of a political furore in Poland, which suggested children conceived via IVF would be less loved by their parents, has been removed by the publisher.

Written by historian and former politician Professor Wojciech Roszkowski, the new textbook is for students studying a new subject introduced in Polish schools from September called 'History and the Present'. The passage in question has seen a scientist resign from a council chaired by Professor Roszkowski after the text was first made public, opposition politicians have publicly objected to the content, and a father of a child conceived via IVF plans to sue the Polish Government over the textbook (see BioNews 1556).

The publishing house, Bialy Kruk, accused detractors of making the 'wrong interpretation' of the passage on Monday 23 August 2022, but that 'taking into account the social good [...] we decided with the author to remove the controversial fragment from the textbook,' ABC News reported.