Assisted Reproductive Technologies and Oocyte Donation

A number of important problems remain unresolved in the field of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) using germ cells from a single donor. We aimed to assess attitudes about the use of sex gamete donation in ART in different social groups including medical workers, oocyte recipients, and oocyte donors.

To achieve this goal, we surveyed 286 participants from seven countries. Of them, 190 were medical workers from ART clinics (respondents from seven countries), 45 were oocyte recipients, and 51 were oocyte donors.

The main motive for oocyte donation was financial compensation, which draws attention to the social disadvantage of the donor population. Medical workers with more than 5 years of work experience (79.7%) supported the use of programs tracking donor sex cells and limiting the use of oocyte donors.

The willingness and consent of the surveyed medical workers and oocyte recipients to use the donor material and create a unified registry of donor sex cells demonstrates the importance of this issue.