Received May 17, 2007
Accepted September 15, 2007

Introduction:The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of media, specifically of “The Clone” soap opera, which approach the human cloning and was shown in Brazil between 2001 and 2002, on couples’s decision about their surplus pre-embryos destination. Material and Methods:It was evaluated 1478 Informed Consents(IC), from 1205 couples, whose underwent ART between 1999 and 2004.Two study groups were established in according to the period of ART procedure, and the soap opera exhibition:group A when the treatments were realized before the entertainment exhibition, and group B after that. Results:Approximately 50% of couples assented pre-embryo cryopreservation.However, among couples who disagreed the cryopreservation, 54.0% of those that underwent the ART before soap opera exhibition consented the embryo donation to research, while only 20.6% of that underwent ART after “The Clone”, had this option(P<0.001). Among couples who accepted embryos cryopreservation, the same profile was observed when should getting to a decision: 37.1% and 21.4% (P<0.001) would donate the embryos for research after six months, and 27.5% and 22.3%(P=0.080) after three years of pre-embryos cryopreservation for groups A and B, respectively.The couples who underwent more than one cycle, 62% on group A,and only 20% on group B changed their attitude, firstly accepting the embryos donation for research, and from the second cycle on,no more agreed to this option. Conclusion:Our results shown the importance of mass media in clarifying population about ethical, social and legal factors related to embryos and ART.A better approache to population understanding of ART will help Brazilian projects on embryo stem-cell research.