ArticleBMC medical ethics2021
Women's viewpoints on egg freezing in Austria: an online Q-methodology study.
Article in BMC medical ethics, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Social Freezing: Pressing Pause on Fertility.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Pooled it
- Social egg freezing among single females: Middle Eastern point of view.Obstetrics & gynecology science · 2025Article
- If Marc is Suzanne's father, does it follow that Suzanne is Marc's child? An experimental philosophy study in reproductive ethics.Journal of medical ethics · 2025Article
- Evaluation of Women's Awareness and Knowledge of Planned Oocyte Cryopreservation at Different Sociocultural Levels: A Cross-Sectional Survey.Obstetrics and gynecology international · 2025Article
- Egg Cryopreservation for Social Reasons-A Literature Review.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Balancing choice and socioeconomic realities: analyzing behavioral and economic factors in social oocyte cryopreservation decisions.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2024Article
- Islamic Perspectives on Elective Ovarian Tissue Freezing by Single Women for Non-medical or Social Reasons.Asian bioethics review · 2023Article
- Medical versus social egg freezing: the importance of future choice for women's decision-making.Monash bioethics review · 2022Article
- Between "Medical" and "Social" Egg Freezing : A Comparative Analysis of Regulatory Frameworks in Austria, Germany, Israel, and the Netherlands.Journal of bioethical inquiry · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundEgg freezing has emerged as a technology of assisted reproductive medicine that allows women to plan for the anticipated loss of fertility and hence to preserve the option to conceive with their own eggs. The technology is surrounded by value-conflicts and is subject to ongoing discussions. This study aims at contributing to the empirical-ethical debate by exploring women's viewpoints on egg freezing in Austria, where egg freezing for social reasons is currently not allowed.
methodsQ-methodology was used to identify prevailing viewpoints on egg freezing. 46 female participants ranked a set of 40 statements onto a 9-column forced choice ranking grid according to the level of agreement. Participants were asked to explain their ranking in a follow-up survey. By-person factor analysis was used to identify distinct viewpoints which were interpreted using both the quantitative and the qualitative data.
resultsThree distinct viewpoints were identified: (1) "women should decide for themselves", (2) "we should accept nature but change policy", and (3) "we need an informed societal debate". These viewpoints provide insights into how biomedical innovations such as egg freezing are perceived by women in Austria and illustrate the normative tensions regarding such innovations.
conclusionsAcknowledging the different prioritizations of values regarding assisted reproductive technologies is important to better understand the underlying normative tensions in a country where egg freezing for social reasons is currently not allowed. The study adds new empirical insights to the ongoing debate by outlining and discussing viewpoints of those directly affected: women. Following up on the lay persons perspective is particularly important in the context of future biomedical innovations that may challenge established norms and create new tensions. It therefore also adds to the societal debate and supports evidence-informed policy making in that regard.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.