The core mission of the Eugin-UPF Chair is the diffusion of knowledge related to human reproduction, and, in particular, of assisted reproduction. In this framework, we are organizing this one-day symposium, to be held in person in the PRBB Auditorium, Barcelona, on the 16th of June, 2022. In it, several speakers will present how pandemics in general, and COVID-19 in particular, have disrupted the social and biological determinants of human reproduction, from various angles and disciplines. Pandemics have ravaged humankind at least since the Neolithic, and, particularly since the Middle Ages, historical research into how fertility patterns were altered has borne fruit. More than two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, and beyond the foolish expectations of a baby boom uttered by some, the figures of the drop in fertility are in and can be analysed for their causal mechanisms and we can speculate over their long-term effects.

The effects of SARS-CoV-2 in the physiology of reproduction are often neglected and research results into that area should be better divulged. We can also broaden the focus to the effects on fertility of many infectious diseases, from STDs to Zika or rubella.  Finally, the effects of the covid-19 pandemic have been acutely felt in mental health and well-being, particularly in young people, and the implications for reproduction will also be explored.