Infertility & Medically Assisted Reproduction

The trend towards ever-later fertility is associated with a growing risk of experiencing fertility problems and of seeking medical help. Medically assisted reproduction (MAR) also facilitates the realization of fertility desires for same-sex couples and single women and men – groups for whom it is difficult to have children without medical help. The number of MAR-conceived children and of MAR families is thus increasing and so is the diversity of family forms in the global North.

Fertility and family research is only starting to take infertility and MAR into account to better understand fertility intentions, behaviors (such as contraceptive use) and outcomes over the life course. Yet, the patterns of change and the mechanisms behind new reproductive behaviors as well as their consequences have not been fully explored and understood, particularly in Europe.

The Working Group aims at …

• fostering research on infertility and medically assisted reproduction, its causes and consequences.
• connecting researchers across Europe and beyond who share an interest in the topic and stimulate collaborations.
• facilitating the dialogue between qualitative and quantitative research as well as from the various disciplines engaged in research on infertility and medically assisted reproduction.
• discussing specific topics such as research data, teaching, and communication about research findings.

We invite all researchers interested in infertility and medically assisted reproduction to be part of our Working Group. If you are interested in joining us, please send an email to jasmin.passet@bib.bund.de.

Upcoming Event

- Registration open: Wittgenstein Centre Conference 2024 “Delayed Reproduction: Challenges and Prospects”, 21-22 November 2024, Vienna

Family formation is increasingly delayed worldwide, presenting new challenges for individuals and couples. The WIC2024 Conference explores trends, drivers, and consequences of delayed reproduction, focusing on biological constraints and the impact of assisted reproduction technologies on current and future fertility. The agenda is finalised, and online registration is now open.

Deadline: 13 November 2024

Previous Events

- EPC 2024 Workshop Infertility and Medically Assisted Reproduction

This pre-conference workshop was organized by the EAPS Working Group Infertility and Medically Assisted Reproduction. The purpose of the meeting was to network, update each other on our research (plans) and engage in discussions about the challenges and opportunities of doing research/teaching on infertility and medically assisted reproduction.

During the meeting PhD students and early career researchers (especially if they had not been invited to an oral session at EPC) had the opportunity to present and receive feedback on their work in progress in an informal and constructive environment. In addition, Tom Emery gave a presentation on the content and accessibility of the ODISSEI data infrastructure regarding topics related to reproduction, including infertility and assisted reproduction.

- "New perspectives on (demographic) data for the study of infertility and MAR", 2 May, 2023, online

This webinar included a presentation by Prof Dr Christine Wyns (Université Catholique de Louvain, Head of the Gynaecology and Andrology Department of the Cliniques universitaires Saint-Luc) with an overview of the EUMAR project  which aims to develop a data registry to facilitate inter-institutional data sharing for open science and to allow longitudinal and cross-border follow-up of medically assisted reproduction (MAR) data.

Steering Committee

Jasmin Passet-Wittig

Federal Institute for Population Research, Germany

Alice Goisis

Centre for Longitudinal Studies, Social Research Institute, University College London, United Kingdom

Eva Beaujouan

University of Vienna (Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital (IIASA, OeAW, University of Vienna)), Austria