The Swiss are open to artificial insemination
Published: Monday, May 6th 2024, 13:01
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The Swiss are open to the idea of being helped to have children. This is the result of an initial analysis of a representative survey published by the University of Zurich on Monday.
As part of the "Swiss Assisted Reproduction Longitudinal Study" (Charls), researchers at the University of Zurich (UZH) led by Jörg Rössel asked 5283 Swiss women and men about their experiences and attitudes towards various infertility treatments. According to the UZH, this is the first representative survey on this topic.
On Monday, the university published an initial evaluation of this survey by doctoral student Maila Mertens.
Hormone therapy most commonly used
According to the new data, the most common treatment for infertility in Switzerland is hormone therapy. Nine percent of those surveyed have undergone such treatment.
Artificial insemination was the second most common method used by respondents. Five percent made use of this option. In vitro fertilization (IVF) was used by four percent of respondents. In contrast to artificial insemination, in which sperm is injected into the cervix or directly into the uterus shortly before ovulation, in IVF eggs are retrieved and fertilized with the sperm in the laboratory.
In addition, 17 percent of all women could imagine freezing eggs themselves. 22 percent were undecided.
Morally justifiable
Almost three out of four respondents (72%) stated that they considered artificial insemination to be morally acceptable or very acceptable. IVF was rated as morally acceptable or very acceptable by 60 percent of respondents. Egg freezing was similarly well received in the survey. 57 percent of respondents rated this as at least morally acceptable.
Respondents were also open to egg donation, which is prohibited in Switzerland: 73 percent stated that they would agree to legalization.
In contrast, only around half of the study participants considered the freezing of embryos to be morally justifiable. Only surrogacy and embryo donation received even less support, with less than a third of respondents considering each to be morally justifiable.
©Keystone/SDA
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