A scoping review of infertility research carried out in the Republic of Ireland

Objective: The objectives of this review are twofold- 1) to examine the extent, range, and nature of infertility research activity to-date in the Republic of Ireland, and; (2) make recommendations for future research in the area. Introduction: Infertility affects approximately 25 million citizens in the European Union and its prevalence is increasing year-on-year. Ireland is the only country in the European Union that offers no public access to Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART; e.g., IVF, IUI) and it also lacks ART legislation. As a result, the impact of infertility on persons in Ireland and the provision of ART-related care may differ from elsewhere. Accordingly, this scoping review will explore research conducted on infertility in the Republic of Ireland to-date. Inclusion criteria: This scoping review will consider research conducted with persons resident in the Republic of Ireland who are experiencing any form of infertility and/or accessing infertility-related care. Research that engages health professionals, or healthcare institutions, regarding their support or provision of treatment to persons experiencing infertility will be included. Studies which are laboratory-based only or involving animals will be excluded. Methods: The scoping review will be conducted in accordance with the JBI methodology for scoping reviews and reported in accordance with the PRISMA extension for scoping reviews (PRISMA-ScR). Electronic searches will be conducted across Medline, CINAHL, Web of Science, PsycInfo, and Psychology and Behavioural Sciences Collection. Grey literature searches will be undertaken. Study selection and data extraction will be completed in duplicate. Narrative synthesis will be used to summarise the data.