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Raz A, Vardi J, Reisner Vain S, Meiri A, Barkan G, Azem F, Amir H. Unmet communication needs and moral work in the disposition decision concerning surplus frozen embryos: The perspectives of IVF users. Soc Sci Med 2021; 274:113804. [PMID: 33677202 DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.113804] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Revised: 02/14/2021] [Accepted: 02/24/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
The disposition decision is a frequently unresolved issue for many IVF users with surplus frozen embryos (SFEs), and this study draws attention to their experiences and moral work, locating it in the Jewish-Israeli context that legally enables the donation of SFEs to research but prohibits donation to other infertile people. To explore the (mis)understandings and (mis)communication underlying IVF users' decisions concerning the fate of their SFEs, the records of 674 IVF users with SFEs stored for more than 5 years during 1996-2011 were analyzed, and 89 IVF users with different disposition decisions were recruited for semi-structured interviews. With an average of 5.1 SFEs, after an average of 8 years of storage, no response to a written request for a disposition decision came from 60% (n = 404) of IVF users with SFEs. Payment for storage and defrosting were the two most frequent choices (13%, n = 89 and 89, respectively) followed by donation to research and transfer (7%, n = 47 and 45, respectively). Three themes emerged from the interviews: misunderstanding the consequences of not returning the disposition form, communication gaps regarding donation to research, and the unmet wish to donate embryos to infertile people. We conclude by discussing the experiences and views of IVF users as reflecting the implications of the liminality and boundary-work surrounding the frozen embryo as a moral work object, and their consequences for policy recommendations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aviad Raz
- Dept. of Sociology and Anthropology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, 84105, Israel.
| | - Jasmine Vardi
- Dept. of Sociology and Anthropology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, 84105, Israel
| | - Shelly Reisner Vain
- Dept. of Sociology and Anthropology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, 84105, Israel
| | - Amir Meiri
- Sarah Racine IVF Unit, Lis Maternity Hospital, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, 6423906, Israel
| | - Gali Barkan
- Sarah Racine IVF Unit, Lis Maternity Hospital, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, 6423906, Israel
| | - Foad Azem
- Sarah Racine IVF Unit, Lis Maternity Hospital, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, 6423906, Israel
| | - Hadar Amir
- Sarah Racine IVF Unit, Lis Maternity Hospital, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, 6423906, Israel
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