Community attitudes to assisted reproductive technology: a 20-year trend.

OBJECTIVE To review the results of opinion polls on community attitudes to in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) and other aspects of assisted reproductive technology over a 20-year period. DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS Fourteen Australia-wide interview surveys that included questions relating to IVF were carried out between July 1981 and November 2001 as part of regular Morgan polls of community attitudes on various topics. Each survey involved about 1000 respondents drawn from randomly selected "cluster points" in urban and rural locations. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The proportion of people who approved or disapproved of various aspects of IVF treatment. RESULTS Support for IVF to help infertile married couples increased from 77% in 1981 to 86% in 2001. Approval for IVF procedures being supported by Medicare funding rose from 70% in 1981 to 79% in 2000. CONCLUSIONS Community approval of the use of IVF to treat infertility has risen significantly in Australia over the past 20 years.