Ethical Issues Currently Being Discussed in Relation to Reproductive Medicine and the Laws Governing Reproductive...

Reproductive medicine laws in Germany currently mean that the relationship status of prospective parents is taken into consideration in decisions on whether their application for assisted reproduction is approved or rejected. In the light of new forms of shared parenthood, we should ask ourselves whether the current regulations are still an appropriate way of guaranteeing the best for the child. Current medical practices and their legal basis will be illustrated using the examples of sperm, egg and embryo donation. From an ethical perspective, the question at stake is to what extent an "Ethics of Parenthood" can make it possible to act responsibly with regard to the changes occurring in forms of shared parenthood. Such an ethics is aimed at supporting parents in realising the reproductive autonomy guaranteed in the German Constitution through social and ethical aspects of the child-parent relationship.