Ewa Daros, President of the OliEdu Foundation, participated in a roundtable discussion organized by the Polish Society of Reproductive Medicine and Embryology and Medyczna Racja Stanu.
The full report titled “In Vitro—The Gift of Parenthood. Clinical and Systemic Challenges,” edited by Prof. Rafał Kurzawa and Dr. Jakub Gierczyński, containing conclusions, recommendations, and expert statements, can be found via the link below an excerpt from the remarks by our Foundation’s President, Ewa Daros:
The challenges involved in changing public knowledge and awareness regarding infertility treatment are enormous. I will not repeat the negative terms that appeared in surveys regarding children born through in vitro fertilization. This attitude must be changed through long-term campaigns:
- educational,
- and social.
We at the OliEdu Foundation strive to do this by organizing conferences and educational activities, but we do so pro bono. Government funding should be allocated for this. It cannot continue to be the case that we have to make a transfer—essentially funding the Foundation’s activities—from our own salaries just to be able to organize such initiatives. From our perspective, doctors need comprehensive education, because patients still hear that infertility is not a disease. Patients also need to be educated, because some of them are still ashamed of undergoing infertility treatment.
Local communities need to be educated, because patients and children born through IVF are stigmatized in their neighborhoods, workplaces, and schools.
These are patients who ask us if they can hide their faces and alter their voices while recording their stories. These are patients who do not want to stigmatize themselves or their children. Because even if the parents are assertive, a child born through IVF, like any other child, is a delicate being and is still in the process of building their emotional and psychological resilience.
In the field of oncofertility, we recommend greater education for doctors and medical staff.
Patients who come to us say that they learn about fertility preservation options during cancer treatment from the Internet or from friends. Unfortunately, the doctor ranks third as a source of this information. We also request that the program be expanded to include patients affected by genetic disorders. We ask:
- Why aren’t they covered by the government’s in vitro program?
For many of them, the only path to healthy, happy parenthood is through in vitro fertilization. We cannot discriminate against these patients. They often sell their homes to undergo private IVF treatment so they can start a family despite their genetic condition.
It is our responsibility to include patients affected by genetic disorders in the government’s infertility treatment program, because these patients are being overlooked and feel discriminated against.
