Ancestor embryos: embryonic gametes and genetic parenthood

Area of Science:

• Bioethics
• Reproductive Technology
• Human Rights

Background:

• The advancement of in vitro reproduction technologies prompts ethical debates regarding the status and rights of embryos.
• Existing legal and ethical frameworks often link personhood and rights to conscious awareness, posing challenges for embryo-centric discussions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the ethical implications of creating human generations in vitro.
• To determine the extent to which embryos can be considered parents and if human rights are contingent on conscious awareness.
• To argue for the persistence of an individual's interest in not being made a parent non-consensually.

Main Methods:

• Philosophical argumentation
• Ethical analysis
• Conceptual clarification of parenthood and rights

Main Results:

• The interest in not being made a parent non-consensually persists throughout an organism's lifespan.
• Genetic parenthood is discovered, not created by knowledge of a relationship.
• An embryo used for gamete harvesting for reproduction is immediately and non-consensually made a genetic parent, thus wronged.

Conclusions:

• Human individuals possess objective interests, including the right not to be made a parent without consent.
• Reproductive technologies utilizing embryos for gamete derivation raise significant ethical concerns regarding non-consensual parenthood.
• Ethical considerations for in vitro reproduction must extend beyond conscious awareness to encompass inherent interests of all human organisms.