Importance of genetic links in determining public attitudes towards surrogacy.

 

Beneragama DM¹, Grero KLW¹, Gamage TGJN¹, Munasinghe MAA¹, Withana JL¹, Pathiraja RP², Prathapan S³

¹Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka; ²Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka; ³Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka.

 

Objective: To describe attitude and factors associated with surrogacy among 20 - 40-year-old adults in Sri Lanka.

 

Design: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among men and women aged 20 - 40 years, in Colombo District, Sri Lanka.

 

Methods: The study instrument was an online questionnaire with close ended questions.  A sample of 431 was obtained via a snowball sampling method. Inferential statistics was performed using Pearson’s Chi-Square Test, Fisher’s Exact Test and Mann-Whitney U Test and the significance level was set at 95%.

 

Results: Acceptance of traditional surrogacy was lower among participants with positive attitudes towards the presence of a genetic link between the parents and offspring (n = 168, 54.02%). In comparison, those who claimed that a genetic link was not of notable importance showed a significantly higher acceptance of the traditional form (n = 80, 66.67%, p = 0.017). A similar pattern in attitudes was observed in the acceptance of gestational surrogacy among the participants. However, the proportion of respondents who claimed that a genetic link was important and who also accepted the gestational form, was higher (n = 245, 78.78%) than the proportion who accepted traditional surrogacy (p = 0.012). Disapproval rates of gestational surrogacy among those who did not find a genetic link between parents and offspring dropped to a mere 10.83% (n = 13) when compared to the traditional form.

 

Conclusion: The need for genetic ties that links a parent to their children played a significant role in the formation of attitudes for and against surrogacy in general as well as between the two formats of the ART.