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Assisted procreation: too little consideration for the babies?

Carlo Bellieni1, Giuseppe Buonocore

  • 1University of Siena, Italy.

Ethics & Medicine : a Christian Perspective on Issues in Bioethics
|November 23, 2006
PubMed

Insights

Parents should carefully consider the elevated risks of cerebral palsy and malformations associated with in vitro fertilization (IVF). This assisted reproductive technology is not a therapeutic measure for future children, necessitating further research before wider availability.

Area of Science:

  • Reproductive Medicine
  • Medical Ethics
  • Developmental Pediatrics

Background:

  • In vitro fertilization (IVF) is increasingly utilized for infertility treatment.
  • Studies indicate higher risks of cerebral palsy and congenital malformations in IVF-conceived infants compared to naturally conceived infants.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the ethical permissibility of parental acceptance of risks associated with IVF for offspring.
  • To determine if IVF can be considered a therapeutic intervention for a child prior to conception.

Main Methods:

  • Ethical analysis of parental risk acceptance in reproductive technologies.
  • Review of existing literature on IVF outcomes and risks.
  • Philosophical argumentation regarding procreative beneficence and non-maleficence.

Main Results:

  • Parents can ethically accept risks for offspring only to avert a greater harm to the child.
  • IVF does not present a worse possibility from which to preserve a future child, as the decision precedes conception.
  • The risks associated with IVF are not justified as a therapeutic measure for the unborn child.

Conclusions:

  • The ethical justification for accepting IVF-related risks on behalf of offspring is questionable.
  • Current procreative technologies, including IVF, require substantial further research.
  • Ethical guidelines and parental counseling regarding IVF risks need re-evaluation.

Keywords:
Genetics and Reproduction

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