Pnm-23: A Comparative Study of Infertile Couples' Knowledge and Attitudes toward Surrogacy

a:4:{s:10:"Background";s:414:"Surrogacy is one of the most popular ART methods which is used when a woman is not able to breed a fetus through pregnancy in her own uterus. Gestational surrogacy is approved by law and religion in Iran. Infertile couple's decisions between possible treatments are influenced by their knowledge and attitudes. The aim of this study is to compare knowledge and attitudes of infertile couples toward surrogacy";s:19:"MaterialsAndMethods";s:447:"This cross-sectional study was performed on 200 infertile couples (N=400) via simple sampling method. A self-made questionnaire with three sections such as "demographic and clinical information", "surrogacy knowledge" and "surrogacy attitude", after standardization, was used as a valid and reliable research tool (α=0.91). Data was analyzed using descriptive and Inferential statistics and a value of P≤ 0.05 was considered significant.";s:7:"Results";s:549:"About half of the women had poor knowledge (46%), while most of men had an average knowledge about surrogacy (38.5%) and although this difference was statically significant, there was no significant difference between their attitudes. In overall acceptance of surrogacy, more than half of the couples had positive attitudes but generally about all aspects of surrogacy, most of infertile couples had neutral attitudes. In infertile men statistically significant reverse association was found between knowledge and attitudes about surrogacy.";s:10:"Conclusion";s:500:"While infertile couples have similar attitudes toward surrogacy, lack of knowledge leads to formation of a neutral attitude and ambiguity about different aspects of surrogacy. Therefore, couples decisions will be faltered. Improving knowledge and attitudes about surrogacy relieves future potential negative consequences for infertile couples, surrogate mother and children born through surrogacy otherwise, surrogacy concept gets away from altruistic goals and trends to a stigma in society.";}