Fast Facts

Interviews for this phase of the qualitative research study Patient’s Perspectives on Egg and Embryo Donation for Research are complete in all three research sites. The research team has conducted data analysis and is disseminating research results. This means that members of the research team have and continue to produce articles, reports, and presentations that summarize and analyze the results. The final report, written in plain langague, is entitled Eggs & Embryos for Research: Summary & Update [PDF - 634 KB]. As well, links to academic articles will be provided as these are published.

This page was last updated in September, 2015.

WHAT PARTICIPANTS DECIDED TO DO WITH THEIR SURPLUS EMBRYOS - By the numbers

How were potential participants selected and contacted?

The study involved three in vitro fertilization (IVF) clinics in Canada: Halifax, Montreal and Ottawa. Potential participants were randomly chosen from among clinic patients who had embryos in storage and received a storage renewal form sometime in 2010 (for the Montreal clinic the cut-off date was August 2010). Individuals and/or couples received a letter and information on the study from their IVF clinic. Those who were interested in participating forwarded their signed consent form and contact information to the research team. A member of the team then contacted them by phone to explain the research and answer any questions. At this point, a time was scheduled for either a face-to-face or telephone interview with those individuals who agreed to participate in the study. At every step of the research process, individuals could choose to stop participation, and have the information they provided destroyed. We thank all participants for sharing their information with us.

Who participated in this study?

All participants were patients who had embryos in storage at one of three IVF clinics in Canada at some time prior to December 2010 (Halifax and Ottawa) or August 2010 (Montreal). In total, 36 interviews were completed for this study, involving a total of 45 participants. Participants were interviewed one-on-one or in couples. Twenty-seven of the 36 interviews were held with individuals (including three couples interviewed separately), while nine were conducted with couples.

Eleven of the 36 interviews were conducted with participants from the Halifax clinic; seven interviews were with participants from the Montreal clinic, and the remaining 18 interviews were with participants from the Ottawa clinic. Of the 45 participants, there were 34 women and 11 men. Forty-one participants identified as heterosexual and four as lesbian/bisexual. Thirty of the 36 interviews were conducted with participants who were married, while three interviews were held with participants who were separated and three interviews were completed with participants in a common-law relationship. The average age of participants at the time of the interview was 38.4 years old.

Twenty-two of the interviews were held with participants that identified with a Christian faith (e.g. Anglican, Catholic, Presbyterian, Ukranian Catholic, and United). One of these twenty-two interviews was conducted with a husband and wife who identified as Jewish and Christian, respectively. One interview was held with a couple who identified as Humanist. The rest of the interviews were conducted with people who did not practice any religion.

Regarding ethnic background, the responses of participants were varied. Participants self-identified in different ways, providing descriptors of ancestral country-of-origin, race, and sometimes both. Some participants simply identified as Canadian (four interviews) or French Canadian (eight interviews). One of the interviews was conducted with a participant who self-identified as West African/Ghanian. All other participants identified as either Caucasian, or as having some European ancestry.

Sixteen of the interviews were conducted with participants who had decided to retain their surplus embryo(s) for their own future reproductive use or because they were undecided about what they wanted to do with the embryo(s). Of those interviews conducted with participants who had come to a final disposition decision about what to do with their surplus embryo(s), three interviews were held with participants who had chosen to discard, one interview with participants who had decided to donate for education/training, and eight interviews with participants who had donated to research. Another two interviews were done with participants who had decided to donate to research, without specifying whether their embryos should go to education/training or research purposes. Five of the interviews were conducted with participants who no longer had excess embryos and one interview was conducted with participants who had decided to permanently retain their embryos.

What information was discussed in a typical interview?

Each face-to-face or telephone interview lasted between one to two hours and was held in English or French, depending on participants’ preference. The interview included about 70 open-ended questions. Participants were asked about their perceptions, views and understandings in relation to the donation of surplus embryos for research purposes. This included a discussion of altruistic donation as compared to commercialized donation.

How is the privacy of the study participants protected?

The privacy of the study participants is important to the research team. The participating clinics’ involvement in the study was limited to the mailing that potential participants received. The mailing was done by the clinic so that no member of the research team would have access to any participant information.The clinics were not given information about whether specific participants agreed or declined to participate in the study.

All data collected from participants is kept in a secure location to which only members of the research team have access. All research findings will be presented in a manner that protects the identity of participants. Information from this study will be disseminated in academic articles and conference presentations, but will not contain identifying information.