Psychiatric aspects of artificial insemination (donor)

Artificial insemination (donor) [A.I.D.] in humans is a medical procedure that has been carried out for roughly 50 years. Its legal status has not yet been established; its moral implications are still hotly contested, and its psychological and psychiatric implications are only now coming under scientific scrutiny.The use of this procedure in couples who are psychologically unsuited for it can have unfortunate consequences. The obstetrician should seek the assistance of a dynamically oriented psychiatrist in screening couples who ask for artificial insemination (donor).Parenthood, in line with psychoanalytic ego psychology, is seen as a phase of ego development. The potential for mothering and fathering children is a later stage in growth than the capacity to conceive and sire them. It is the psychiatrist's role to assess the couple's motivation for A.I.D. in the light of the extent to which they have achieved this degree of ego development.