PET PET
  • My Account
  • Subscribe
Become a Friend Donate
  • About Us
    • People
    • Press Office
    • Our History
  • Get Involved
    • Become a Friend of PET
    • Volunteer
    • Campaigns
    • Writing Scheme
    • Partnership and Sponsorship
    • Advertise with Us
  • Donate
    • Become a Friend of PET
  • BioNews
    • News
    • Comment
    • Reviews
    • Elsewhere
    • Topics
    • Glossary
    • Newsletters
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Previous Events
  • Engagement
    • Policy and Projects
      • Resources
    • Education
  • Jobs & Opportunities
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
    • People
    • Press Office
    • Our History
  • Get Involved
    • Become a Friend of PET
    • Volunteer
    • Campaigns
    • Writing Scheme
    • Partnership and Sponsorship
    • Advertise with Us
  • Donate
    • Become a Friend of PET
  • BioNews
    • News
    • Comment
    • Reviews
    • Elsewhere
    • Topics
    • Glossary
    • Newsletters
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Previous Events
  • Engagement
    • Policy and Projects
      • Resources
    • Education
  • Jobs & Opportunities
  • Contact Us
  • My Account
  • Subscribe
  • Privacy Statement
  • Advertising Policy
  • Thanks and Acknowledgements
PETBioNewsReviewsEvent Review: Changing Fertility: Social, Demographic and Ethical Consequences of Assisted Conception Technologies

BioNews

Event Review: Changing Fertility: Social, Demographic and Ethical Consequences of Assisted Conception Technologies

Published 5 August 2016 posted in Reviews and appears in BioNews 862

Author

Dr Nitzan Peri-Rotem

Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
CC0 1.0
Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.

An international forum on 'Changing Fertility - Social, Demographic and Ethical Consequences of Assisted Conception Technologies' held in Cambridge explored changing fertility trends amid the rapidly growing industry of assisted reproductive technologies...

This spring, an international forum on 'Changing Fertility: Social, Demographic and Ethical Consequences of Assisted Conception Technologies' was held in Cambridge, bringing together academic researchers, health professionals and policy makers. This event, which was jointly organised by the Reproductive Sociology Research Group and the Philomathia Programme at the University of Cambridge, laid the groundwork to explore changing fertility trends amid the rapidly growing industry of assisted reproductive technologies (ART). The spread of ART has brought renewed hope to many couples and individuals with difficulties conceiving, and stretched the biological age limits of childbearing. However, these new technologies are still limited in their ability to overcome age-related infertility.

The forum provided an opportunity to revisit some of the common myths and misconceptions about ART and infertility. Lone Schmidt, an Associate Professor at the University of Copenhagen, noted that infertility - defined as a failure to conceive after one year or more of regular unprotected sexual intercourse – affects around one in six couples in developed countries. In addition, she noted that while there is an almost exclusive focus on women when addressing issues of reproduction, nearly 40 percent of cases of infertility are male-dependent, as a result of poor semen quality. This is similar to the share of female-dependent infertility, while other cases are either couple-dependent or due to unknown causes. Moreover, many people have poor knowledge about infertility and its risk factors. There is a tendency to underestimate the impact of advanced female age on infertility, and to overestimate the success rates of fertility treatments. Finally, she noted that even the best ART are not sufficient to overcome reduced fertility caused by advanced female age. Therefore, access to assisted fertility should go hand in hand with prevention of infertility. 

This raises the question of why people delay childbearing in the first place. Tomas Sobotka, a Senior Researcher from the Vienna Institute of Demography, explained that men and women delay childbearing for very concrete reasons, including prolonged education, increased economic insecurity and less stable relationships. Therefore, while it is biologically optimal for women to start a family when they are in their early or mid-20s, this does not always match their social circumstances. This delay has exacerbated Europe's declining fertility rates and the increase in childlessness. So far, the contribution of ART in countering these trends has been quite modest. However, impact varies considerably from one country to another. For example, in countries with higher public spending on fertility treatment, like Denmark and Belgium, around five percent of births occur following ART use, compared to around one percent of births in the USA and just over two percent of births in the UK. While these figures may not seem very high, the share of ART babies among women aged 40 and above is considerably larger.

These issues may continue to spark further debate on the appropriate policy to address infertility, and the extent to which the timing of childbearing is a matter of free choice. While women potentially have different options to delay childbearing, such as using egg freezing, these options are subject to various social, economic and biological constraints. In this context, one of the main propositions stressed by forum participants is that delayed childbearing should not be understood simply as a private matter, but also as a socially and economically dependent choice. Therefore, early family formation must be supported by a change at the institutional level.  

Related Articles

Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
CC0 1.0
Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
News
9 November 2018 • 2 minutes read

Fertility rate halves across world

by Dr Eleanor Lynam

The number of children born per woman has halved globally since 1950, according to a study published by the Lancet...

Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts equipment used for embryo biopsy.
CC0 1.0
Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts equipment used for embryo biopsy.
Reviews
25 April 2017 • 4 minutes read

Event Review: The future of female fertility? Egg freezing and social change

by Jamie Rickman

Can egg freezing be considered a feminist technology? Should we really be addressing the failures of a social fabric that requires women to preserve their fertility at all? This event was an exciting opening to an urgently needed discussion and is the fir

Image by Bill Sanderson via the Wellcome Collection, © Wellcome Trust Ltd 1990. Depicts Laocoön and his family (from Greek and Roman mythology) entwined in coils of DNA.
Image by Bill Sanderson via the Wellcome Collection, © Wellcome Trust Ltd 1990. Depicts Laocoön and his family entwined in coils of DNA (based on the figure of Laocoön from Greek and Roman mythology).
Reviews
9 January 2017 • 4 minutes read

Theatre Review: Half of Me

by Rachel Siden

Half of Me is a play aimed at a young audience, and tells the story of children born through Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART)...

Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
CC0 1.0
Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
Comment
20 July 2015 • 3 minutes read

How old is too old? Age limits for access to assisted reproduction

by Professor Hana Konecna

What happens if you ask children what age they would like their parents to be, and should this influence the debate on age limits for assisted reproduction?...

Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts equipment used for embryo biopsy.
CC0 1.0
Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts equipment used for embryo biopsy.
Reviews
9 March 2015 • 4 minutes read

Event Review: Does egg-freezing enable women to 'have it all'?

by Dr Rachel Montgomery

I arrived with some bemusement at this one-hour debate, 'Does egg-freezing enable women to "have it all"', to Beyoncé playing out loudly to an excited lecture theatre...

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

« Event Review: The Ethics of Human Artificial Gametes

Data-Label The UK's Leading Supplier Of Medical Labels & Asset Labels

RetiringDentist.co.uk The UK's Leading M&A Company.

Find out how you can advertise here
easyfundraising
amazon

This month in BioNews

  • Popular
  • Recent
20 June 2022 • 5 minutes read

Documentary Review: Our Father

20 June 2022 • 4 minutes read

Podcast Review: How Far Could Genome Editing Go?

13 June 2022 • 3 minutes read

Podcast Review: Happy Mum Happy Baby – Tom Daley

13 June 2022 • 3 minutes read

Podcast Review: The Outlook – The shocking truth about my three dads

23 May 2022 • 4 minutes read

Documentary Review: Freezing Fertility

1 August 2022 • 3 minutes read

Podcast Review: Stories of Our Times – IVF, fraud and 'unwanted' children

25 July 2022 • 4 minutes read

TV Review: DNA Family Secrets – series two, episode six

18 July 2022 • 4 minutes read

TV Review: Spotlight – The babymaker uncovered

11 July 2022 • 4 minutes read

TV Review: DNA Family Secrets – series two, episode three

4 July 2022 • 3 minutes read

Podcast Review: Biohacked Family Secrets – The birth of the sperm bank

Subscribe to BioNews and other PET updates for free.

Subscribe
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • RSS
Wellcome
Website redevelopment supported by Wellcome.

Website by Impact Media Impact Media

  • Privacy Statement
  • Advertising Policy
  • Thanks and Acknowledgements

© 1992 - 2022 Progress Educational Trust. All rights reserved.

Limited company registered in England and Wales no 07405980 • Registered charity no 1139856

Subscribe to BioNews and other PET updates for free.

Subscribe
PET PET

PET is an independent charity that improves choices for people affected by infertility and genetic conditions.

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • RSS
Wellcome
Website redevelopment supported by Wellcome.

Navigation

  • About Us
  • Get Involved
  • Donate
  • BioNews
  • Events
  • Engagement
  • Jobs & Opportunities
  • Contact Us

BioNews

  • News
  • Comment
  • Reviews
  • Elsewhere
  • Topics
  • Glossary
  • Newsletters

Other

  • My Account
  • Subscribe

Website by Impact Media Impact Media

  • Privacy Statement
  • Advertising Policy
  • Thanks and Acknowledgements

© 1992 - 2022 Progress Educational Trust. All rights reserved.

Limited company registered in England and Wales no 07405980 • Registered charity no 1139856