[Human rights and procreation]

Assisted procreation raises several problems in relation to Human Rights. The first owes to gamete donation which introduces foreign genetic material into the family. In this respect, conflicting rights of the child, the parents and the donor, are diversely perceived in different cultures. Another difficulty concerns the status of the human embryo cultured in vitro. An analysis based on a relational definition of the human person indicates that the embryo cannot reasonably become endowed with legal rights, if it does not represent the project of having a child. Assisted procreation, moreover, raises the question of the right to parenthood, not only of sterile couples but also of female homosexuals and women without partners. It also reactivates the debate on Human Rights in relation to technocratic power.