There is no universal access to MAR. Some countries impose sociodemographic criteria such as sexual orientation, marital status or age for access to ART. For example, in Italy, marriage is required, and in Switzerland a stable relationship is required, whereas in Spain there are no established regulations. Another B2-InF’s assumption is that the incorporation of societal voices in scientific and policy actions will lead to relevant applications of science and governance with regard to ART.
B2-InF estimates that an effort must be made to ensure gender equality when reporting biomedical interventions. B2-InF considers that if the European Union (EU) aspires to a common framework on relevant issues such as MAR, it is necessary to study sociocultural differences through both questionnaires (quantitative data) and semi-structured interviews (qualitative data), giving voice to concerns and expectations of citizens towards improving ART for society
The results of B2-InF are being used to provide recommendations and guidelines for improvements of the information provided by the ART clinics to society, from three different perspectives (sociocultural, legal and gender). With these guidelines, each clinic can be self-evaluated by analysing the extent to which it is open and transparent, and to what extent it is responsive and is adaptive to change. B2-InF also invites reflection on public knowledge and assumptions that will help to shape future research and innovation in the field of ART.
B2-InF gives citizens an essential role in each of its three main steps. In the Data Collection Stage, B2-InF gave voice to the youth-real felt needs and concerns through individual interviews in 8 countries. These perceptions collected were assembled in various validation workshops and events to receive feedback and validate the reports. In the Building Guidelines Step, citizens from FE Association in each country, together with youth people involve in civil associations, have been assembled in workshops and events to give us further feedback and to validate the national guidelines. Finally, in the Building Awareness Stage international and associations involved in B2-InF have contributed for the dissemination of the guidelines in their respective countries.
The objectives have been:
1. Give voice to citizens towards improving ART.
2. Test an innovative co-creation methodology that bridges research communities with the wider public in the area of ART, with the capacity to align research developments with the needs, expectations and values of society.
3. Create a RRI roadmap for ART.
4. Provide information to policymakers responsible for the legal conditions of ART, allowing them to create legislation in line with the citizens’ needs and expectations.
5. Collect, analyse and transfer social scientific knowledge, expectations, and concerns about ART to clinics.
