University Student Attitudes to In Vitro Fertilization and its Ramifications

SynopsisA survey conducted in July to August 1985 sampled the opinions of 330 University of Sydney mainly undergraduate students across all faculties towards in vitro fertilization, its possible technical extensions and the legal issues raised by application of this new technology. Responses indicated a high level of information about and approval of the use of IVF as a method of reproduction, comparable to that shown by any previous national surveys. There was no evidence that either the faculty of enrolment or their own personal relationship status affected the students’ answers. Women students took a significantly more conservative approach than men both to use of the basic procedure and to its futuristic extensions (research using unwanted embryos, cloning and ectogenesis). Only a minority of both sexes approved of any such extensions, indicating that opposition to futuristic medical technology is not the sole prerogative of the uneducated.