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Procreative beneficence and the prospective parent.

P Herissone-Kelly¹

¹Centre for Professional Ethics, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, PR1 2HE, UK. pnherissone-kelly@uclan.ac.uk

Journal of Medical Ethics

|March 2, 2006

Summary

Prospective parents are not obligated to choose the child with the best possible life. Instead, they should aim to avoid having a child with an unacceptable level of suffering, focusing on an acceptable outlook.

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Area of Science:

Bioethics
Reproductive Ethics

Background:

The principle of procreative beneficence (PPB) suggests parents should select the child likely to have the best life.
This principle is influential in contemporary bioethical discussions.

Purpose of the Study:

To argue that prospective parents are not obligated to adhere to the principle of procreative beneficence (PPB).
To propose an alternative ethical framework for prospective parents.

Main Methods:

Philosophical argumentation
Ethical analysis of reproductive decision-making

Main Results:

Prospective parents are exempt from the obligation to select the child with the best life.
The role of prospective parentage itself provides a basis for this exemption.

Conclusions:

Prospective parents are not bound by the principle of procreative beneficence (PPB).
A more realistic principle is the 'acceptable outlook,' where parents should avoid having children with unacceptable suffering.

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