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IVF Ethical Dilemmas

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In this essay I am going to look at the ethical issues of reproductive medicine (RM), focusing on in vitro fertilization (IVF), embryo selection and surrogacy. I will present, discuss and evaluate arguments put forward and echoed by both sides of the dilemma. RM is directed at helping people overcome their medical problems with procreating, i.e. creating new human life. However, as long as some RM techniques produce technically superfluous pre-embryos, RM has to deal with life and death decisions about inchoate human beings that are in a developmental phase about whose moral status hardly anyone has well-grounded intuitions or generalizable beliefs (Human Reproduction Update 1996, Vol. 2, No. 5 pp. 447–456). The ethics of reproductive medicine …show more content…
IVF begins with fertility medication, that is prescribed to stimulate maturation of oocytes and hence production of eggs. This is required as unfortunately some eggs will not fertilize or even develop, this is viewed by some as wasting the eggs and hence human life and is the reason why this step is so controversial. For example ´controversy surrounding the birth of Louise Brown in July 1978, together with lack of funding, brought the work of Steptoe and Edwards to an abrupt halt (Johnson et al., 2010) ´ (Elder, van den Bergh & Woodward 2015). Nevertheless, this was the birth of IVF. Next, blood samples are taken to observe hormone levels and the ovaries are examined via a transvaginal ultrasound. A minor surgical procedure follows, to extract the eggs using a hollow needle that is guided through the pelvic cavity using ultrasound imaging. Once the eggs have been extracted a sperm sample is provided by the male which is prepared for insemination. Insemination is a process during which the eggs from the female and the sperm from the male are mixed together and fertilization is encouraged by optimal conditions in the laboratory. Another process called intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) may be used. ICSI is used mostly in cases where the probability of fertilization is rather low. This alternative procedure involves the direct …show more content…
For example in California, where a recipient was implanted with an embryo of another couple only to be informed ´after the birth of her son´ (Ayers C, 2004). This has led to the adaptation of uniquely numbered RFID tags which is a computerized system that functions to notify embryologist in case of a mismatch of samples. This new system has made the old, HFEA required, double witnessing system obsolete. Mix-ups are not the only topic to have stemmed legal battles and are the source of many ethical dilemmas. The legal case of Henrietta Lacks, is an example of ´tissue ownership´ issue. Her tissue was used for genetic research by scientists, without consent. This sparked more controversy as to whether it is ethically correct to make any kind of profit, by either side, from biological material such as germ cells (Skloot, Rebecca, 2010). Direct decisiveness is therefore required with human rights at embryonic stage. Laws are now in place, however they vary according to different

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