Women’s Attitudes Toward Biomedical Technology for Infertility

Abstract

Research has consistently revealed gender differences in attitudes toward science and technology. One explanation is that women are more personally affected by particular technologies (e.g., biomedical interventions), so they consider them differently. However, not all women universally experience biomedical technologies. We use the concept of technological salience to address how differences in subjective implications of a technology might explain differences in women’s attitudes toward biotechnology. In a sample of U.S. women from the National Survey of Fertility Barriers, we examine how women with and without a biomedical barrier to fertility evaluate biotechnology for infertility, which, we argue, reflects differences in technological salience. For women with a biomedical barrier, various experiences, beliefs, and values impacted their attitudes; yet, most of these did not affect attitudes if women had not experienced a fertility barrier. Results suggest that technological salience contextualizes women’s attitudes toward these biotechnologies and may also have broader implications for other biotechnologies.

Attitudes of Infertile Women in Serbia Towards Third-Party Reproduction

“…Additionally, a comparative analysis of the attitudes of women with vs. women without a biomedical barrier to fertility towards the use of reproduction-aiding techniques would be very useful in exploring gender attitudes towards these techniques. Some studies used this line of inquiry (Johnson & Simon, 2012). Finally, it is important to bear in mind that different women may view pregnancy differently, that they may or may not have been pregnant before and that they may ascribe different degrees of importance to motherhood itself.…”

Attitudes of Infertile Women in Serbia Towards Third-Party Reproduction

“…Additionally, a comparative analysis of the attitudes of women with vs. women without a biomedical barrier to fertility towards the use of reproduction-aiding techniques would be very useful in exploring gender attitudes towards these techniques. Some studies used this line of inquiry (Johnson & Simon, 2012). Finally, it is important to bear in mind that different women may view pregnancy differently, that they may or may not have been pregnant before and that they may ascribe different degrees of importance to motherhood itself.…”

Tipologías y argumentos en torno a las técnicas de reproducción asistida en habitantes de Santiago de Chile

“…L as investigaciones que abordan las técnicas de reproducción asistida (TRA) desde la perspectiva de la opinión pública son escasas [1][2][3] . En 2013 se publicó en la Revista Médica de Chile uno de los pocos estudios latinoamericanos que indaga sobre las posiciones respecto a las TRA 4 .…”

Knowing and Not Knowing about Fertility: Childless Women and Age-Related Fertility Decline

“…In a study by health researchers Judith C. Daniluk, Emily Koert, and Anthony Cheung (2012), participants were very knowledgeable about age-related fertility decline but knew far less about the effectiveness of in-vitro fertilization (IVF). Studies on people's awareness of the effectiveness of assisted reproductive technologies are relevant to research on age-related fertility decline because they speak to the risks of assuming that fertility treatments can mitigate the risks of delaying childbearing (Hodes-Wertz et al 2013;Johnson and Simon 2012;O'Brien et al 2017).…”

Attitudes of Infertile Women in Serbia Towards Third-Party Reproduction

“…Additionally, a comparative analysis of the attitudes of women with vs. women without a biomedical barrier to fertility towards the use of reproduction-aiding techniques would be very useful in exploring gender attitudes towards these techniques. Some studies used this line of inquiry (Johnson & Simon, 2012). Finally, it is important to bear in mind that different women may view pregnancy differently, that they may or may not have been pregnant before and that they may ascribe different degrees of importance to motherhood itself.…”

Tipologías y argumentos en torno a las técnicas de reproducción asistida en habitantes de Santiago de Chile

“…L as investigaciones que abordan las técnicas de reproducción asistida (TRA) desde la perspectiva de la opinión pública son escasas [1][2][3] . En 2013 se publicó en la Revista Médica de Chile uno de los pocos estudios latinoamericanos que indaga sobre las posiciones respecto a las TRA 4 .…”

Knowing and Not Knowing about Fertility: Childless Women and Age-Related Fertility Decline

“…In a study by health researchers Judith C. Daniluk, Emily Koert, and Anthony Cheung (2012), participants were very knowledgeable about age-related fertility decline but knew far less about the effectiveness of in-vitro fertilization (IVF). Studies on people's awareness of the effectiveness of assisted reproductive technologies are relevant to research on age-related fertility decline because they speak to the risks of assuming that fertility treatments can mitigate the risks of delaying childbearing (Hodes-Wertz et al 2013;Johnson and Simon 2012;O'Brien et al 2017).…”

Attitudes of Infertile Women in Serbia Towards Third-Party Reproduction

“…Additionally, a comparative analysis of the attitudes of women with vs. women without a biomedical barrier to fertility towards the use of reproduction-aiding techniques would be very useful in exploring gender attitudes towards these techniques. Some studies used this line of inquiry (Johnson & Simon, 2012). Finally, it is important to bear in mind that different women may view pregnancy differently, that they may or may not have been pregnant before and that they may ascribe different degrees of importance to motherhood itself.…”

Tipologías y argumentos en torno a las técnicas de reproducción asistida en habitantes de Santiago de Chile

“…L as investigaciones que abordan las técnicas de reproducción asistida (TRA) desde la perspectiva de la opinión pública son escasas [1][2][3] . En 2013 se publicó en la Revista Médica de Chile uno de los pocos estudios latinoamericanos que indaga sobre las posiciones respecto a las TRA 4 .…”

Knowing and Not Knowing about Fertility: Childless Women and Age-Related Fertility Decline

“…In a study by health researchers Judith C. Daniluk, Emily Koert, and Anthony Cheung (2012), participants were very knowledgeable about age-related fertility decline but knew far less about the effectiveness of in-vitro fertilization (IVF). Studies on people's awareness of the effectiveness of assisted reproductive technologies are relevant to research on age-related fertility decline because they speak to the risks of assuming that fertility treatments can mitigate the risks of delaying childbearing (Hodes-Wertz et al 2013;Johnson and Simon 2012;O'Brien et al 2017).…”