Editorial | Open Access
Contemporary Changes in Medically Assisted Reproduction: The Role of Social Inequality and Social Norms
| Views: | 480 | | | Downloads: | 208 |
Abstract: This editorial introduces the thematic issue on current developments in medically assisted reproduction (MAR), focusing on how social inequality and social norms influence access, attitudes, and experiences. The contributions in this issue examine the social stratification of reproductive opportunities across different groups and countries, explore the normative and legal frameworks that govern MAR, and consider how evolving family structures challenge existing reproductive policies. The issue also highlights significant data limitations in current research—especially the absence of key variables, such as income or migration status, and internationally comparable data—which hinder efforts to achieve more equitable access to reproductive healthcare. Overall, the contributions advocate for interdisciplinary approaches and better data systems to deepen our understanding of these issues and address reproductive exclusion in modern societies.
Keywords: assisted reproductive technologies (ART); data gaps; family diversity; in vitro fertilization (IVF); medically assisted reproduction (MAR); social inequality; social norms; stratified reproduction
Published:
© Anne-Kristin Kuhnt, Jörg Rössel, Heike Trappe. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits any use, distribution, and reproduction of the work without further permission provided the original author(s) and source are credited.