Development and Validation of the Attitude towards Surrogacy Scale in a Polish Sample

Abstract

Background: Surrogacy is one of the options in reproductive medicine that raises a lot of ethical, legal and psychological controversy. Surveying attitudes toward surrogacy plays an important role in building awareness of this phenomenon in the society, which may help eliminate its stigma. In this study authors aimed to develop and validate a scale to examine the attitudes towards surrogacy in a polish population.Methods: In this study cross-sectional design was implemented. Development process of the Attitude towards Surrogacy Scale (ATSS) included items development based on literature reviews, other existing questionnaires, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and reliability analysis using internal consistence coefficients. A pilot study using convenience sampling was conducted after consultation with the Expert Advisory Panel Board. The final survey, which was used in this study, consisted of 24 items, which were organized into the four subscales: general opinion on surrogacy and its social context (7 items), financing and legalizing surrogacy (8 items), the acceptance of surrogacy (4 items), and attitudes towards the intended parents and children born through surrogacy (5 items). 442 individuals participated in this study.Results: The final version of Attitude towards Surrogacy Scale (ATSS) consists of 15 items, grouped in three subscales: opinion on surrogacy ethical context, financing and legalizing surrogacy, and an acceptance of surrogacy.Conclusion: This is the first scale in Poland for the assessment of general attitudes towards surrogacy. This measure allows to capture the opinions towards three aspects of surrogacy: surrogacy’s ethical context, the financing and legalizing surrogacy, and acceptance of surrogacy. The scale can be addressed to various groups in the population, not only for studies related to reproductive medicine.

Development and Validation of the Attitude Towards Surrogacy Scale in a Turkiye Sample

“…Countries such as Russia and Ukraine allow commercial and altruistic surrogacy, whereas The United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada legally allow only altruistic surrogacies. In contrast, Germany, France and Italy are among countries, which ban all forms of surrogacy [22]. In Turkey, surrogacy is not a legal practice and is prohibited.…”