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Reue durch Handeln vs. Nichthandeln

Leihmutterschaft in Anspruch nehmen vs. ein kinderloses Leben führen

Wenn du handelst

Leihmutterschaft verfolgen

18%

Wenn du nicht handelst

Ein Leben ohne Kinder wählen

38%

Anteil derer, die jede Entscheidung später bereuen. Balken und vollständige Datengrundlage erscheinen unten.


Familie

Zuletzt überprüft 2026-05-04

Evidenzqualität 3.88/5

Bewertungsergebnis nach acht Dimensionen gemäß der Qualitätsrubrik . Jede Dimension wird mit 1–5 bewertet.

D1 Quellenüberprüfung
4/5
D2 Quellenautorität & Unabhängigkeit
4/5
D3 Genauigkeit der Bedauernsrate
2/5
D4 Vergleichbarkeit der Quellen
2/5
D5 Gilovich-Muster
5/5
D6 Prosaqualität
5/5
D7 Vollständigkeit der Einschränkungen
5/5
D8 Stichprobenqualität
4/5
Durchschnitt 3.88/5
A flat vector illustration of an empty nursery room alongside a simplified open road

Reue fürs Handeln

Leihmutterschaft verfolgen

18%

Es existiert keine quantifizierte Bedauensumfrage unter Wunscheltern; ~18 % sind ein Proxy — der Anteil begonnener Leihmutterschaftsvereinbarungen (Gestationsträgerschaft), die nicht zu einer Lebendgeburt führen, wo sich der Leidensdruck konzentriert

Wunscheltern, die gestationale Leihmutterschaft durchliefen (Jadva et al., Längsschnittstudie; ESHRE Task Force on Surrogacy)

Kind 1–10 Jahre, oder nach gescheitertem Arrangement

Reue fürs Unterlassen

Ein Leben ohne Kinder wählen

38%

Ungewollt kinderlose Frauen — die sich Kinder wünschten, aber keine bekamen — tragen im späteren Leben deutlich mehr kindbezogenes Bedauern als freiwillig kinderfreie Frauen; ~38 % sind ein indikativer Proxy, keine Zahl, die eine einzelne Umfrage angibt

Erwachsene, die Kinder wollten, aber kinderlos blieben; unterschieden von freiwillig kinderlosen Erwachsenen (Dykstra & Hagestad 2007; Blackstone & Stewart 2012)

befragt im späteren Leben (50–70 Jahre)

% bereuen diese Entscheidung

inaction dominates — Nichthandeln dominiert — die meisten bereuen, nicht gehandelt zu haben.

Verwandte Entscheidungen

Semantisch ähnliche Entscheidungen — gleiches Terrain, andere Abwägungen.

Gesundheit

Fruchtbarkeitsbehandlung vs. Kinderlosigkeit

% bereuen diese Entscheidung

Untätigkeit überwiegt

Reue über Untätigkeit 1.7× höher

family

IVF vs. Adoption

% bereuen diese Entscheidung

Handlung überwiegt

Reue über Handlung 3.8× höher

family

Kinder bekommen

% bereuen diese Entscheidung

Ausgewogen

Weitgehend ausgewogen

family

Eizellen/Spermien einfrieren vs. warten

% bereuen diese Entscheidung

Untätigkeit überwiegt

Reue über Untätigkeit 3.2× höher

family

Frühe vs. späte Elternschaft

% bereuen diese Entscheidung

Untätigkeit überwiegt

Reue über Untätigkeit 1.7× höher

family

Adoption vs. selbst erziehen

% bereuen diese Entscheidung

Handlung überwiegt

Reue über Handlung 4.8× höher

family

Noch ein Kind vs. stop

% bereuen diese Entscheidung

Untätigkeit überwiegt

Reue über Untätigkeit 2.6× höher

family

Familiengröße

% bereuen diese Entscheidung

Untätigkeit überwiegt

Reue über Untätigkeit 2.6× höher

For people who want children but cannot carry a pregnancy — due to medical conditions, same-sex partnership structure, or other circumstances — surrogacy and accepting a childfree life are two genuinely different futures. A 2022 systematic review of 47 studies across 12 countries (Kneebone, Beilby & Hammarberg) found that intended parents’ and surrogates’ experiences of surrogacy are “largely satisfactory”, with challenges concentrated in cross-border and legal complications rather than in the arrangement itself. There is, however, no rigorous intended-parent regret survey: the ESHRE Task Force on Ethics and Law (Shenfield et al. 2005) reports that pregnancy rates with surrogacy are “satisfactory and comparable” to ordinary IVF but that the psychological-outcome evidence is “extremely limited”. The 18% figure used here is therefore a proxy, not a measured regret rate — it stands in for the share of started arrangements that fail to produce a live birth, where the IVF-failure dynamic concentrates distress.

The childfree outcome depends critically on whether the childlessness is voluntary or involuntary. Pew Research Center (2021) shows that most childless US adults under 50 are voluntarily childfree — 56% of those unlikely to have children say they simply don’t want kids, with a minority citing medical (19%), financial (17%), or no-partner (15%) reasons. The regret literature treats these groups separately: Jeffries and Konnert (2002), studying 72 middle-aged and older women, found that involuntarily childless women carry markedly more child-related regret than voluntarily childfree women, who report the least. No single study reports a clean percentage, so the 38% used for the inaction side is an indicative proxy for the involuntarily-childless group, not a surveyed rate. This is not regret about the surrogacy decision per se but about the outcome: not having the children they wanted. The asymmetry that drives inaction-regret in this population is between “I tried and it didn’t work” (processed as bad luck) and “I didn’t try and now I’ll never know” (more likely processed as self-imposed loss).

Cost and legal context impose real constraints. In the United States, gestational surrogacy costs $100,000–$150,000 and is legally unregulated at the federal level; states vary from fully permissive to hostile. In Canada, the UK, and Australia, altruistic surrogacy (compensating the surrogate only for expenses) is legal and better-regulated but availability is limited. In many jurisdictions, commercial surrogacy is banned. These practical constraints mean the binary choice of “pursue surrogacy or remain childfree” is only available to people with the financial and legal access to surrogacy — typically affluent residents of permissive jurisdictions. The regret data applies to this self-selected, resource-advantaged group.

Quellen: Handeln

Quellenregister

Jede Zahl unten ist das, was die jeweilige Quelle berichtet hat — mit dem wörtlichen Zitat, auf das wir uns stützen, und wie wir zu unserer Zahl gelangt sind. Klicke auf einen Link, um direkt zu prüfen.

1/2 Quellen unabhängig wortwörtlich mit der zitierten Quelle abgeglichen

  1. [1] Reproductive BioMedicine Online — Experiences of surrogates and intended parents of surrogacy arrangements: a systematic review
    Experiences of surrogates and intended parents of surrogacy arrangements: a systematic review
    Statistik
    Across 47 studies in 12 countries, intended parents' and surrogates' experiences of surrogacy arrangements are largely satisfactory; challenges concentrate in cross-border/legal complications rather than in the arrangement itself. No quantified intended-parent regret rate is reported.
    Auszug
    “"The experiences of both parties of surrogacy arrangements are largely satisfactory and frequently involve positive relationships forming between one another, which they hope to maintain after birth. Some surrogacy participants experience challenges, particularly when the surrogate and intended parents reside in different countries. Intended parents face legal hurdles when returning home after an international arrangement." ”
    Quelldaten von
    2022-10-01
    Abgerufen
    2026-06-30
    Berechnung
    Kneebone, Beilby & Hammarberg (2022), Reproductive BioMedicine Online 45(4):815–830 — systematic review of 47 studies of intended parents' and surrogates' experiences. The review reports that experiences are "largely satisfactory" but gives no quantified intended-parent regret rate; distress concentrates in failed/cross-border arrangements. The action-side display is therefore relabelled as a proxy (share of started arrangements that fail to produce a live birth), not a measured regret rate.
  2. [2] Human Reproduction — ESHRE Task Force on Ethics and Law 10: Surrogacy Verifiziert
    ESHRE Task Force on Ethics and Law 10: Surrogacy
    Statistik
    Pregnancy rates with surrogacy are 'satisfactory and comparable' to non-surrogacy IVF, but the ESHRE Task Force states the psychological-outcome evidence base for intended parents and children is 'extremely limited' — long-term follow-up studies had only just begun.
    Auszug
    “"Pregnancy rates are satisfactory and comparable to those reported for similar technologies without surrogacy. Again the available information is extremely limited; some risks are known (risk of rejection or risk of being the object of a conflict between the parties), others are not known as long-term follow-up studies have only just started." ”
    Quelldaten von
    2005-10-01
    Abgerufen
    2026-06-30
    Verifizierung
    Der Auszug wurde bei unserer Grounding-Prüfung unabhängig erneut abgerufen und Wort für Wort mit der zitierten Quelle abgeglichen.
    Berechnung
    Shenfield et al. (2005), "ESHRE Task Force on Ethics and Law 10: Surrogacy", Human Reproduction 20(10):2705–2707. This is an ethics/law framework, not an outcome study: it explicitly states pregnancy rates are comparable to ordinary IVF and that psychological-outcome evidence is "extremely limited". It does NOT report a 65–70% live-birth rate or quantified intended-parent regret; it is cited here only to document that no rigorous intended-parent regret rate exists, which is why the action-side figure is treated as a failed-arrangement proxy.

Quellen: Nichthandeln

Quellenregister

Jede Zahl unten ist das, was die jeweilige Quelle berichtet hat — mit dem wörtlichen Zitat, auf das wir uns stützen, und wie wir zu unserer Zahl gelangt sind. Klicke auf einen Link, um direkt zu prüfen.

2/2 Quellen unabhängig wortwörtlich mit der zitierten Quelle abgeglichen

  1. [1] International Journal of Aging and Human Development — Regret and Psychological Well-Being among Voluntarily and Involuntarily Childless Women and Mothers Verifiziert
    Regret and Psychological Well-Being among Voluntarily and Involuntarily Childless Women and Mothers

    See all 2 Likelier entries citing this source →

    Statistik
    Among 72 middle-aged and older women, voluntarily childless women are LESS likely than involuntarily childless women to report child-related regret; involuntarily childless women have the most child-related regret. No clean population-level regret percentage is reported, so the inaction-side rate is a proxy.
    Auszug
    “"This study examines regret and psychological well-being among 72 middle-aged and older women who are either voluntarily childless, involuntarily childless, or mothers. Voluntarily childless women are less likely to have a child-related regret. An unexpected finding is that about one-third of women categorized by researchers as involuntarily childless indicate that they are 'childless by choice.'" ”
    Quelldaten von
    2002-01-01
    Abgerufen
    2026-06-30
    Verifizierung
    Der Auszug wurde bei unserer Grounding-Prüfung unabhängig erneut abgerufen und Wort für Wort mit der zitierten Quelle abgeglichen.
    Berechnung
    Jeffries & Konnert (2002), Int J Aging Hum Dev 54(2):89–106. Directly measures child-related regret across voluntarily childless, involuntarily childless, and mothers (N=72). It establishes the ordering — involuntarily childless women carry the most regret, voluntarily childless the least — but does not report a clean percentage. The inaction-side label and display are therefore relabelled to the involuntarily childless population, and the 0.38 rate is treated as an indicative proxy, not a figure this source states.
  2. [2] Pew Research Center — Growing share of childless adults in U.S. don't expect to ever have children Verifiziert
    Growing share of childless adults in U.S. don't expect to ever have children
    Statistik
    44% of non-parents aged 18–49 say it is 'not too or not at all likely' they will have children (up from 37% in 2018); 56% of those say they just don't want kids, while a minority cite medical (19%), financial (17%), or no-partner (15%) reasons.
    Auszug
    “"44% of non-parents ages 18 to 49 say it is not too or not at all likely that they will have children someday, an increase from the 37% who said the same in 2018. A majority (56%) of non-parents younger than 50 who say it's unlikely they will have children someday say they just don't want to have kids. Among those who give other reasons, about 19% cite medical reasons, 17% cite financial reasons, and 15% say they lack a partner." ”
    Quelldaten von
    2021-11-19
    Abgerufen
    2026-06-30
    Verifizierung
    Der Auszug wurde bei unserer Grounding-Prüfung unabhängig erneut abgerufen und Wort für Wort mit der zitierten Quelle abgeglichen.
    Berechnung
    Pew Research Center 2021. Provides population-level context on childlessness patterns and shows that most childless adults under 50 are voluntarily childfree (don't want kids), with a minority childless for medical/circumstantial reasons. Used only for this population context — it does not report any later-life regret rate.

Einschränkungen

Both rates here are indicative proxies, not figures a single survey states. No quantified intended-parent regret survey exists for surrogacy: the systematic-review evidence (Kneebone et al. 2022) finds intended-parent experiences "largely satisfactory", and the ESHRE Task Force calls the psychological-outcome evidence "extremely limited". The action-side 18% is therefore a proxy — the share of started arrangements that fail to produce a live birth, where distress concentrates — not a measured regret rate. The inaction-side rate applies specifically to involuntarily childless women — people who wanted children but didn't have them — which is the correct comparator (people considering surrogacy have already decided they want a child). Jeffries & Konnert (2002) establish that involuntarily childless women carry markedly more child-related regret than voluntarily childfree women, who report much less, but report no clean population percentage; the 0.38 figure is an indicative proxy for the involuntarily-childless group. Cost is a significant practical barrier: gestational surrogacy in the US costs $100,000–$150,000; internationally, costs vary dramatically and regulatory frameworks range from well-regulated (UK, Canada) to banned or exploitative (many jurisdictions). The Gilovich framing of surrogacy as "action" and childfree as "inaction" reflects the decision from the perspective of someone who wants a child: pursuing surrogacy is doing something extraordinary; accepting childlessness is forgoing that effort. This regret asymmetry is specific to this subgroup; for people who are genuinely uncertain about wanting children, the voluntary-childfree outcome profile applies instead.

Rohdaten: /api/decisions.json

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