Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Monash University, Clayton, Australia.
Monash Bioethics Centre, Monash University, Clayton, Australia.
AJOB Empir Bioeth. 2022 Jan-Mar;13(1):33-47. doi: 10.1080/23294515.2021.1941413. Epub 2021 Jul 3.
Since 2014, many companies have followed the lead of Apple and Facebook and now offer financial support to female employees to access egg freezing. Australian companies may soon make similar offers. Employer-sponsored egg freezing (ESEF) has raised concerns and there is academic debate about whether ESEF promotes reproductive autonomy or reinforces the 'career vs. family' dichotomy. Despite the growing availability of ESEF and significant academic debate, little is known about how ESEF is perceived by the public. The aim of this study was to explore women's attitudes toward ESEF.Women aged 18-60years who resided in Victoria, Australia were invited to complete an online, cross-sectional survey investigating views toward egg freezing. Associations between participant demographics and their views about ESEF were assessed using multinominal logistic regression, adjusted for age and free text comments were analyzed using thematic analysis.The survey was completed by 656 women, median age 28years (range: 18-60years). Opinions on the appropriateness of employers offering ESEF were divided (Appropriate: 278, 42%; Inappropriate: 177, 27%; Unsure: 201, 31%). There was significantly less support for ESEF among older participants and those employed part-time (p<0.05). While some participants saw the potential for ESEF to increase women's reproductive and career options, others were concerned that ESEF could pressure women to delay childbearing and exacerbate existing inequities in access to ARTs.Our analysis revealed that while some women identified risks with ESEF, for many women ESEF is not viewed as theoretically wrong, but rather it may be acceptable under certain conditions; such as with protections around reproductive freedoms and assurances that ESEF is offered alongside other benefits that promote career building family. We suggest that there may be a role for the State in ensuring that these conditions are met.
自 2014 年以来，许多公司效仿苹果公司和 Facebook，现在为女性员工提供经济支持，以获取卵子冷冻服务。澳大利亚的公司可能很快也会提供类似的服务。雇主赞助的卵子冷冻（ESEF）引起了人们的关注，学术界对 ESEF 是否促进生殖自主权或强化“职业与家庭”二分法存在争议。尽管 ESEF 的可获得性不断增加，且学术界对此进行了大量辩论，但公众对 ESEF 的看法却知之甚少。本研究旨在探讨女性对 ESEF 的态度。邀请居住在澳大利亚维多利亚州的 18-60 岁女性完成一项关于对卵子冷冻的看法的在线横断面调查。使用多项逻辑回归评估参与者人口统计学特征与他们对 ESEF 的看法之间的关联，并根据年龄进行调整，对自由文本评论采用主题分析进行分析。该调查共完成 656 名女性的答卷，中位年龄 28 岁（范围：18-60 岁）。对于雇主提供 ESEF 的适当性，人们的意见存在分歧（适当：278 人，占 42%；不适当：177 人，占 27%；不确定：201 人，占 31%）。年龄较大的参与者和兼职工作者对 ESEF 的支持明显较少（p<0.05）。虽然一些参与者认为 ESEF 有可能增加女性的生殖和职业选择，但另一些人则担心 ESEF 可能会迫使女性推迟生育，加剧获得辅助生殖技术方面现有的不平等。我们的分析表明，尽管一些女性认为 ESEF 存在风险，但对许多女性来说，ESEF 在理论上并没有错，而是在某些情况下可能是可以接受的；例如，在生殖自由得到保护的情况下，并且 ESEF 是在促进职业发展和家庭的其他福利的情况下提供的。我们认为，国家可能需要发挥作用，确保满足这些条件。
