...Impact of Reproductive Technologies on Society Melanie Pescud, Tammy Knox, Carly Malpass, Kellie Cue ?? ‘Infertility is estimated to affect more than 80 million people worldwide, and while developments in reproductive technologies have evolved rapidly, so have the ethical, social and political controversies which surround nearly all aspects of their use’ (Vayena et al, 1997) People have accepted the practice of various forms of fertility treatment for thousands of years. Despite this, controversy surrounds these new reproductive technologies because they challenge the traditional understanding of the relationship between sex and procreation. Consequentially, this also has the potential to challenge the structure of linage and kinship networks. This report will investigate the reported and perceived social implications of some commonly used reproductive technologies currently used today; including contraception, in-vitro fertilisation, gamete intra-fallopian transfer, intra-cytoplasmic Sperm Injection, pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, gamete donation and abortion. Equality of Access Reproductive technologies have had a significant impact to the lives of many infertile and sub-fertile couples around the world. However, due to the high financial costs of these procedures, the access to these technologies is largely limited to Western society; particularly middle to high income earners. Consequentially, developing countries whom have the highest rates of infertility, have...
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...Infertility Infertility is of special concern among medical circles. Scholars have also studied this condition, particularly with regards to its emotional and physical ramifications. In this essay, infertility is examined from the angle of available treatments and the responses of patients undergoing treatment. Infertility is a condition or disease of the female or male reproductive system that results in inability to conceive after a whole year of well- timed, unprotected intercourse. It can also refer to the inability of a female to fully carry a pregnancy to the delivery of a live baby (Seli, 2011). Today, infertile couples can legally adopt a child whose parents are unable to care for the baby. However, not all couples are comfortable with this alternative, especially those that wish to raise a child that is related to them biologically. In such cases, the couple has to undergo medical checkups to diagnose the real source of infertility. To do this, both undergo various preliminary diagnostic procedures and tests to determine whether either conforms to the normally recognizable fertility etiologies. Women are the cause of roughly 30 – 35 percent of these problems among couples. Older women are, particularly, unable to conceive or carry a pregnancy to full term. Another cause of infertility among women is Pelvic Inflammatory Disease, which affects the reproductive tract. It is often linked to a history of sexually transmitted disease. However, it can also be caused by the...
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... Department of Law, A.M.U. Aligarh Submitted by:- Faisal Ashfaq LL.M. (P) 13-LLM-20 GB1586 Synopsis * Introductory Remarks * Surrogacy and its Types * Necessity for Surrogacy * Hague Conference on Private International Law, March 2011 * National Guidelines for Accreditation, Supervision and Regulation of ART Clinics in India * The Assistive Reproductive Technology Regulation (Draft) Bill, 2010 * Socio Legal Issues * The Present Indian Scenario * International Perspective on Surrogacy * Conclusion * Bibliography Introductory Remarks The very word surrogate means “substitute”. That means a surrogate mother is the substitute for the genetic-biological mother. In common language, a surrogate mother is the person who is hired to bear a child, which she hands over to her employer at birth. According to the Artificial Reproductive Technique (ART) Guidelines:- Surrogacy is an “arrangement in which a woman agrees to a pregnancy, achieved through assisted reproductive technology, in which neither of the gametes belong to her or her husband, with the intention of carrying it to term and handing over the child to the person or persons for whom she is acting as surrogate; and a “surrogate mother” is a woman who agrees to have an embryo generated from the sperm of a man who is not her husband, and the ococyte for another woman implanted in her to carry the pregnancy to full term and deliver...
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...topic we are in between the depths of the human being where on one side is the union of a man and a woman attracted toward each other by the sexual instinct which is natural and primary, is what we call the unitive aspect of the sexual act. On the other hand is something equally grandiose in the given the creation of a new life called fecundation aspect of the sexual act. These aspects influence the intimate moment in which a couple has to make the decision to use a contraceptive or not. Women’s and couples may have different and personal reasons to use them. Each of those reasons have driven the development of the modern contraceptive technology, which can be used for everyone. The use or not of these contraceptive methods should be respected, as the rights of persons or human rights. The woman may decide the time of pregnancy and the number of the same, separating the sexual aspects of the generative or fecundation and, so as not to lose the enjoyment of sexuality, but at the same time do not have the disadvantage of a pregnancy that would interfere in their quality of life according to their personal goals. The advances in science and technology are achievements that should be used to achieve the desires of the individual. That is, if they are useful for the purposes for which I would think are good. In the extreme cases as it doesn't matter that to avoid having a child, you have to resort to methods of abortion. It would be considered an individualistic behavior...
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...an extreme cultural practice prevalent in much of North and West Africa as well as in parts of the Middle East and Asia, in which young women and girls are forced to undergo a procedure that alters or rather, mutilates their reproductive organs. Although Female Genital Mutilation, or FGM, is seen in many cultures as a way to promote purity and chastity, this paper will argue that it is in fact a reflection of the “deep-rooted inequality between sexes, and constitutes an extreme form of discrimination against women.” (WHO, 2014) Female Genital Mutilation is defined by any procedure that alters the exterior parts of a female’s reproductive organ. The literature describes four main types of FGM. The first type is called clitoridectomy. In this process surgery involves the full or partial removal of the clitoris. A second type is called excision and this occurs when the clitoris is also fully or partially removed. In addition, the labia minora is removed leaving just the labia majora intact. Infibulation is the most severe form of FGM and occurs when a seal is formed over the opening of the vagina by removing the inner or outer labia. A small hole is left for the passage of menstrual fluid and urine. The hole is...
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...However, within research results they have found a series of risks. Such risks include: that not all cells in the embryos have been repaired, the unintentional cutting and insertion of nonmutant genes, and the possible exposure of new diseases (Sas and Lawrenz, 2017). Therefore, from a scientific standpoint the risks do outweigh the benefits and is deemed unethical at this point of research. Future advancements in this technology may cause for an upset in this...
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...factors that may be out of your control. Infertility refers to the inability to conceive a child naturally. About 10% of women (6.1 million) that range in the ages of 15-44 have fertility issues. But infertility isn’t just a woman’s problem. One-third of all infertility issues are due to issues with the man. One of those is called Azoospermia. In a normal male, the testicles in the scrotum produce sperm that flows through the epididymis, vas deferens, and seminal ducts. Sperm mixes with fluid in the seminal ducts to form semen. Azoospermia is a condition where there are no sperm in the semen. Non-obstructive Azoospermia refers to abnormal sperm production and obstructive Azoospermia refers to normal sperm production with some sort of obstruction. Many years ago there wasn’t much hope for those with non-obstructive Azoospermia as it was thought they would never be able to conceive a child. Luckily with advancements in testing and diagnostic procedures it is now known that there is an equal chance of the capability of both non-obstructive and obstructive Azoospermia men to conceive child through IVF treatments. What is the treatment for Azoospermia? Is there hope for those men with Azoospermia? Does the diagnosis of Azoospermia rule out the chances of ever conceiving a child? Although diagnostic testing, treatment, surgery, and ultimately IVF may be emotionally and financially draining, the outlook for men with infertility problems is increasingly looking better. ...
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...Ancona, Italy 4 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Federal University of Minas Gerais and National Institute of Hormones and Women’s Health, 30130-100 Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil 2 Correspondence should be addressed to Andrea Ciavattini; ciavattini.a@libero.it Received 28 February 2013; Revised 10 June 2013; Accepted 13 August 2013 Academic Editor: Hilary Critchley Copyright © 2013 Andrea Ciavattini et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Uterine leiomyomas (fibroids or myomas) are benign tumors of uterus and clinically apparent in a large part of reproductive aged women. Clinically, they present with a variety of symptoms: excessive menstrual bleeding, dysmenorrhoea and intermenstrual bleeding, chronic pelvic pain, and pressure symptoms such as a sensation of bloatedness, increased urinary frequency, and bowel disturbance. In addition, they may...
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...Phil 140 Research Paper 18 December 2011 Population Control On October 31, 2011, the world acknowledged its 7th billion inhabitant. This number has doubled in just forty years (Worldometer). Some think it is clear that overpopulation is a major problem for today’s society. There are countries that enforce public population control and others yet who still have no official action plan to counteract the issue. Perhaps this is because not everyone sees overpopulation as a large issue. Is it the duty of the state to determine a woman’s right to bear children, or to force unwanted contraceptives in an effort to control population levels? For some, this is how their government rules. The imbalance of births over deaths around the world may show a potential problem with overpopulation; however population control is not moral. The world has a natural cycle; birth, life, then finally death. This process is repeated over and over again every minute of the day. When the number of births exceeds that of deaths, the circumstance is referred to as overpopulation. There are approximately 190 countries in the world, and according to the Overpopulation Index published in 2010, only 77 of those are considered overpopulated, many only by a fraction (World Atlas). Singapore is ranked number one, China is ranked number twenty nine, followed by the United States ranked as number thirty five. In the United States, the Constitution and Bill of Rights grants citizens many privileges such as...
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...In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) is a reproductive technology used for those who are unable to conceive naturally. There is a lot of controversy surrounding non-coital means of reproduction, but IVF has slowly gained acceptance. Often, cloning is put forward as an answer to infertility. There is less of a risk of side effects after the treatment, than with those of IVF. Women are more likely to develop ovarian cancer after the chemical treatments of IVF. Cloning may come in useful, by limiting the exposure to the chemicals to only once. The woman needs only to produce one egg cell, which can be cloned, instead of chemical induced ovulations that are needed to acquire many egg cells. (McGee,...
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...compounds as PCBs, DDT and dioxin. Even worse, in the womb and through breast milk, mothers pass this chemical legacy on to the next generation. “Our Stolen Future”, the scientific discovery of Theo Colborn, Dianne Dumanoski and John Peterson Myers, takes up where Carson left off and reviews a large and growing body of scientific evidence, linking synthetic chemicals to aberrant sexual development and behavioral and reproductive problems, such as low sperm counts, infertility, genital deformities, hormonally triggered human cancers, like those of breast and prostate gland, neurological disorders in children such as hyperactivity and deficits in attention. The quality of men's sperm declined steadily in the early years of the 21st century until hardly anyone could reproduce in the normal way. Meanwhile, the countryside was virtually emptied of animals as natural populations crashed. The first signs of the impending catastrophe were noted in the 1990's, but few people then believed that a cocktail of pollutants that mimic human hormones could have such profound effects. So nothing was done until it was too late. Over the last few years, an increasing number of...
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...of Arizona at 116,000 square miles, has an estimated present population of 94 million and could possibly be at 154,000,000 in the year 2050 if the current annual population growth is maintained at about 2.0%. The Reproductive Health bill, or popularly known as RH bill, is Philippine Bill aiming to guarantee universal access to methods and information on birth control and maternal care. It is a way of helping people to be more advance, well prepared, and to widen up each and every individuals mind setting about our society nowadays. The bill mandates the government to “promote, without bias, all effective natural and modern methods of family planning that are medically safe and legal”. Although abortion is recognized as illegal and punishable by law, the bill states that “the government shall ensure that all women needing care for post-abortion complications shall be treated and counseled in a humane, non-judgmental and compassionate manner”. The bill calls for a “multi-dimensional approach” integrates a component of family planning and responsible parenthood into all government anti-poverty programs. Age-appropriate reproductive health and sexuality education is required from grade five to fourth year high school using “life-skills and other approaches”. The new law passed after acrimonious debates in the Philippine Congress and the wider political establishment. The Roman Catholic Church hierarchy mounted a vitriolic opposition campaign, despite survey after survey indicating...
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...ETHICS FOR HOLISTIC PRACTICE Debate topic – Couples wishing to undergo IVF treatment should be awarded the legal right to choose the sex of their child. Good afternoon everyone our debate topic today is whether or not couples wishing to undergo IVF treatment should be awarded the legal right to choose the sex of their child. I’m Melinda and along with Angelique and Melissa we will be presenting the affirmative argument and the negative argument will be presented by Kristen, Judy and Deb. Sex selection, also known as gender selection, has attracted great interest and controversy over the years. Gender selection has been associated with a number of ethical, moral, social and legal issues. Sex selection may be performed for medical reasons to avoid sex-linked diseases or for parental preference. The topics I will be covering include eugenics, beneficence, utilitarianism and pre-genetic screening in regards to sex linked diseases. Eugenics can be defined as the study or belief in the possibility of improving the qualities of the human species. In the context of IVF treatment positive eugenics encourages reproduction by implantation of healthy embryos with inheritable desirable traits and negative eugenics seeks to identify and dispose of embryos found to carry undesirable inheritable traits. Utilitarianism in the context of IVF sex selection and genetic screening is defined by the principle of utility which seeks to judge moral rules, actions and behaviours on the basis...
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...and Ethics in the 21st Century and Beyond Morality and Ethics study of Human Cloning and The Holocaust | Marcus D. Taylor 12/5/2011 Both morality and ethics will become a downgraded value as time goes on. And this is an ongoing version of the ideologies of events that happened the past. As time approaches a new dawn the world will be forced to adapt to change. There will be questions on what changes will affect the morals and ethics accepted from its society. Morality will change as it has in the past due to the evolving technology. Take for example the new technological developments of Cloning. Cloning is one of the most extensively discussed topics in the modern world. It is a subject that universally evokes immense reactions from society. Cloning is the technique of producing a genetically identical duplicate of an organism by replacing the nucleus of an unfertilized ovum with the nucleus of a body cell from the organism (Yourdictionary.com). In 1903, plants were the first living organisms to be cloned, pioneering the concept. Progressive developments in research now usher in greater advancements in this technology, including the successful cloning of the sheep now known as “Dolly” in 1997 by Scottish scientist, Dr. Ian Wilmut. Logically, the next step is to clone human beings. Is human cloning essential for improvements in enhancing the quality of life? Since cloning still raises scientific as well as ethical, moral and religious issues...
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...Surrogacy is when another woman carries and gives birth to a child for another individual. Though it can be an emotionally intense and legally complex arrangement, it is growing in popularity among parents as a way of having children. Having another woman bear a child for a couple to raise, usually with the male half of the couple as the genetic father, is referred to in antiquity. Babylonian law and custom allowed this practice and infertile woman could use the practice to avoid a divorce, which would otherwise be inevitable. One well-known example is the Biblical story of Sarah and Abraham, a nomadic Hebrew couple unable to conceive. Sarah offered her Egyptian slave Hagar as a surrogate, but later drove her away from the camp when Hagar became impudent during pregnancy. Hagar fled to Egypt, where an angel told her that her son Ishmael would become a leader amongst the Hebrews; she subsequently returned to Sarah and Abraham. Surrogacy requires a lot of time, money and patience to succeed, whether it's carried out privately or through an agency. But it can bring happiness to all concerned if the medical, legal, financial and emotional aspects are properly considered. Why choose surrogacy Someone may choose surrogacy if one can't carry a pregnancy, perhaps because: * Have had recurrent miscarriages. * Have a health condition which makes pregnancy and birth dangerous. * Uterus (womb) is abnormal or absent, whether since birth or after a hysterectomy. *...
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