ART: 50% of French people misinformed about the self-preservation of gametes (excluding medical reasons)

Drawing up an inventory of the level of knowledge and expectations and needs concerning the self-preservation of gametes for non-medical reasons and raising awareness among all stakeholders (general population and health professionals) about infertility and its challenges were the objective the PRESERVE survey conducted by the GEDEON RICHTER laboratory in partnership with the Stethos firm (national survey of 2100 participants). This survey shed light on the general public’s lack of knowledge of the new bioethics law of August 2, 2021 (53% of French people have never heard of it), but also on the fact that 70% of French people feel bad informed about the clinical and biological practices of Medically Assisted Procreation (MAP).

Self-preservation of gametes: 38% of French people do not know that it is authorized

“So that they can later personally resort to assisted reproduction, the self-storage of gametes without any medical reason becomes possible for women and for men. Until now, a woman could not have recourse to the freezing of her own oocytes, except for medical necessity. The reform is framed. Age limits are set by a decree of September 28, 2021” can be read on the official website of the Government of Public Life. Thus, the self-storage of gametes outside medical reason is authorized and Decree No. 2021-1243 of September 28, 2021 sets the conditions for the organization and management of medically assisted procreation courses. Thus according to “Art. R. 2141-36. The age conditions required by article L. 2141-2 to benefit from a removal or collection of one’s gametes, with a view to medically assisted procreation, are set as follows:

“1° The retrieval of oocytes can be carried out in women up to their forty-third birthday;

“2° The collection of spermatozoa can be carried out in men up to their sixtieth birthday.

“These provisions are applicable to the removal or collection of gametes or germinal tissues carried out pursuant to Article L. 2141-11, when this is carried out with a view to medical assistance for subsequent procreation.

” Art. R. 2141-37. The age conditions required by article L. 2141-12 to benefit from the self-preservation of one’s gametes with a view to the subsequent performance of medically assisted procreation are set as follows:

“1° The retrieval of oocytes can be carried out in women from their twenty-ninth birthday until their thirty-seventh birthday;

“2° The collection of spermatozoa can be carried out in a man from his twenty-ninth birthday until his forty-fifth birthday.

” Art. R. 2141-38. Artificial insemination, the use of gametes or germinal tissue collected, removed or preserved for the purposes of medically assisted procreation pursuant to Articles L. 2141-2, L. 2141-11 and L. 2141-12 , as well as the transfer of embryos mentioned in Article L. 2141-1, can be carried out:

“1° Until his forty-fifth birthday in the woman, unmarried or within the couple, who is destined to bear the child;

“2° Until his sixtieth birthday with the member of the couple who is not intended to bear the child.”

If only 38% of French people know that it is authorized, it is because they are also 50% to feel very badly informed on the subject of the self-preservation of gametes outside medical reasons. Moreover, 90% of them have never broached this subject (whatever the interlocutor). And yet, since the 2022 fertility plan, a report on the causes of infertility towards a national strategy to combat infertility published in February 2022, recommendations have been drafted on six main axes: educate and inform collectively and individually in particular on the decline in fertility with age and other altering factors and to put in place information sent to each man and woman aged 29 by the Health Insurance, containing the following information: access to long consultation and preconception consultation, contact details for the dedicated website and toll-free number, possibility of self-preserving gametes. The third axis is to train health professionals in the prevention of infertility. The other axes deal concretely with the problems of infertility with the fact of better identifying and diagnosing the causes of infertility, setting up a national comprehensive and coordinated research strategy on human reproduction and infertility and creating a “National Institute of Fertility”, embodying the discipline, guaranteeing the coordination of actors in the prevention and management of infertility.

Fertility and ART: 70% of French people misinformed

According to the Preserve survey, if the French know little or badly about the subject of the self-preservation of gametes outside medical reasons, they are also very numerous (70%) to lack information on the clinical and biological practices of Medical Aid to Procreation. Moreover, 1 out of 4 French people do not know how to assess the chances of having a baby thanks to MAP. In this regard, Pauline Jaeger, medical biologist at HCL Lyon and member of the survey’s expert committee also notes that “The lack of knowledge of the French is well underlined in the survey but it reflects what we noted in consultation, indeed a large part of the French do not know that fertility decreases from the age of 35 and that societal oocyte preservation is not a guarantee. Know that each IVF attempt has about a 25% chance of success. A figure that surprises many French people who think (wrongly) that PMA = baby, which is far from being the case. Indeed, if the self-preservation of gametes is an important tool and a major advance, the procedures remain long and require a fairly heavy personal physical and psychological investment. Good information for the general public and younger generations therefore seems essential in terms of fertility prevention.