A review of Islamic Middle Eastern migrants: traditional and religious cultural beliefs about procreation in the context of infertility treatment

In many societies cultural beliefs about procreation exist that differ from the Western biomedical model. In the Middle East monogenetic patriarchal preformation models and mixtures of these models with the biomedical model exist, alongside the Western biomedical model. This review gives an overview of these non-biomedical beliefs in the Middle East and their connection with the biomedical model. The likelihood that non-biomedical procreation beliefs exist among a number of Middle Eastern migrants is demonstrated and it is shown how these beliefs might influence the experience of infertility and attitudes towards infertility treatment. Several suggestions for improving healthcare are made.