Attitude and willingness on gamete donation among medical students: An experience from a state university in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Objective: To assess the attitude and willingness of medical students of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Jaffna, regarding gamete donation.

Methods: An institutional-based descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Jaffna, from September 2022 to May 2023 among undergraduate medical students who gave their voluntary participation. A self-administered questionnaire was used as a study instrument to collect data regarding their attitude and willingness toward gamete donation.

Results: A total of 345 participants were recruited and their socio-demographic data revealed that 56.8% of the participants were female, 62.3% aged between 26 and 30 years, and 92.2% were unmarried. Many of them received information regarding gamete donations during their clinical appointments. Over half (67.8%) of them showed a negative attitude towards gamete donation. Regarding willingness, only 39.7% of participants had a positive approach for being a gamete donor; among them, 84.7% preferred anonymous donations. Religion and ethnicity had a significant influence on their attitudes and willingness. In addition, male was also found to be more willing to donate gametes.

Conclusions: Most medical students have negative views about gamete donation. Imparting awareness and knowledge of assisted reproductive technology and gamete donation within medical students' sociocultural and ethical backgrounds might facilitate a change in attitude towards gamete donation amongst future medical practitioners.

Keywords

Medical students / Gamete donation / Assisted reproductive technology / Attitude / Viewpoint

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Funding

This is a self-funded study supported by the Primary author.

Authors’ contributions

Dr. S. Raguraman did the conception and framework of this study. The protocol for this study, the questionnaire and guidance for writing the manuscript were suggested by Prof. K. Muhunthan. Data collection and data analysis was done by temporary demonstrator R. Niroje. Drafting the manuscript was done by Dr. S. Raguraman and R. Niroje. The manuscript has been read and approved by all authors for its publication.

Publisher’s Note

The Publisher of the Journal remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

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