The Impact of Religious Beliefs on Reproductive Donation: Global and National Trends
While infertility spurs the growth of assisted reproductive technologies (ART), religiously motivated evaluation of reproductive donation and third-party parenthood affect the users of ART individually and the ART industry nationally. The article surveyed extant research on the ways religious beliefs of various actors such as governments and legislatures, medical institutions, donors and recipients, influence their attitudes towards reproductive donation. Three countries with dominant confessions and, more importantly, the confessions, which have strong articulate views on reproductive donation, were selected: Israel, Turkey, and Poland. While all these nations favor pro-natalist attitudes, they have their own interpretations of how pro-natalist goals should be achieved. Judaism and Israeli society demonstrate positive evaluation of reproduction and multiplication of the people, therefore, they offer robust collective support for reproductive technologies and donation. In Turkey, the influence of Islam on legal and ethical evaluation of reproduction is subtle but strong. It limits the treatment of infertility to officially married couples. Polish Roman Catholics are active in the political lobbying of restrictions on ART and in public condemnation of liberalizing reproductive rights.