RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To investigate infertility patients' attitudes towards frozen embryos and the factors that influence patients' decisions. STUDY DESIGN: This is a cross-sectional quantitative observational study conducted between 1 April 2010 and 1 April 2015. Patients underwent IVF with embryo cryopreservation and successfully delivered at least one baby were called to complete a questionnaire regarding decisions about embryo disposition and reasons for their preferred option. The chi-square test was used to compare the attitudes about embryo disposition between subgroups. A multinomial logistic regression was performed to examine the effects of various individual characteristics on the decision. The effects were presented by adjusted odds ratios (OR) and their 95% confidence interval (95% CI). SETTING: Guangzhou Women and Children's Hospital. RESULTS: Among 769 interviewed couples, 718 couples (93.4%) completed the questionnaire. A total of 462 couples (64.3%) continued to store embryos. Among the participants who discontinued storage, 214 couples (83.6%) chose to discard embryos, and 42 couples (16.4%) agreed to donate embryos for research. Having no college education and longer storage duration were associated with an increase in the likelihood of discontinuing storage. The couples having twins from IVF were more likely to discontinue storage (OR=6.33, 95%CI: 4.37-9.39) compared to those having only one child. Regarding the choice of discarding or donation for research among those who decided to discontinue frozen embryos, females aged 30 or above were more willing to donate their embryos for research (OR=2.85, 95%CI:1.12-7.23). CONCLUSION: The preference for embryo disposition was associated with the number of children, storage duration, and the couple's education. Chinese patients generally chose to store cryopreserved embryos and were less receptive to the concept of embryo research compared with patients in other developed countries.
