Public discussion around the accessibility of Artificial Reproduction Technology (ART) in Poland is not limited to considerations of the moral aspects of medical intervention into human fertility. Scientists of various disciplines get involved in these discussions as opponents to this form of procreation. Referring to research conducted all over the world, they suggest that children born thanks to the in vitro procedure are significantly more susceptible to all sorts of disease. The author, on the basis of available research data, shows that in reality worse health condition of in vitro-conceived children deals with a narrow number of well-identified disorders and in most cases is of correlative, not causative nature – mainly because weaker health of those children is usually connected with advanced age of the parents who choose IVF and their own state of health (mothers’ in particular), as compared to those who become parents in the natural way. The author also believes that loading the potential parents with anxiety about the health condition of their children should be treated as a delayed negative consequence of the ART methods application.
Wroclaw and Opole were the two biggest Polish cities afflicted by the huge flood of 1997. Research conducted 9 months and 3 years after this disaster (Wroclaw and Opole, respectively), compares the opinions of people who lived in (a) flooded areas, (b) places threatened with flooding which avoided the calamity thanks to inhabitants and rescue teams' heroic struggle, and (c) areas under no threat of flooding due to their location. The research analyzed whether the place of residence influenced perceptions of varied advantages which research participants could perceive as consequences of the flood. Quite surprisingly, it turned out that the perception of interpersonal relations was better in places where the inhabitants struggled against the disaster than in those not threatened by the flood.
Poland is being swept by a wave of discussions on various aspects of IVF application. Scientists of various disciplines are getting involved in these discussions as opponents to this form of procreation. Referring to research carried out all over the world, they demonstrate that children born thanks to the in vitro procedure are significantly more susceptible to all sorts of disease. The author, surveying available research data, shows that, in reality, the worse health of in vitro-conceived children deals with a narrow number of well-identified disorders and in most cases is of correlative, not causative nature. The main reason for the weaker health of these children is often connected with the advanced age of the parents who choose IVF and their health condition (mothers' in particular), as compared to those who become parents in a natural way.
This article reports on a replication study of “Childless by choice? Attributions and attitudes concerning family size”, research published in Social Behavior and Personality and carried out by Valerie LaMastro in 2001. In the study presented in this paper the author examined the personality characteristics ascribed by naive perceivers to people with families of varying sizes. Students (N = 284) read one of twenty-four paragraphs describing a heterosexual couple who varied in the number of children they had (no children, one child, two children, six children) and in male and female employment status. Targets were rated on 28 personality characteristics and seven relationship quality statements concerning the level of family happiness. The results obtained indicated that a childless pair was viewed as less happy than those with children. Parents of any size family were, however, perceived similarly.
This article reports on a replication study of “Childless by choice? Attributions and attitudes concerning family size”, research published in Social Behavior and Personality and carried out by Valerie LaMastro in 2001. In the study presented in this paper the author examined the personality characteristics ascribed by naive perceivers to people with families of varying sizes. Students (N = 284) read one of twenty-four paragraphs describing a heterosexual couple who varied in the number of children they had (no children, one child, two children, six children) and in male and female employment status. Targets were rated on 28 personality characteristics and seven relationship quality statements concerning the level of family happiness. The results obtained indicated that a childless pair was viewed as less happy than those with children. Parents of any size family were, however, perceived similarly.