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Issue Description
Since the birth of the first “test-tube baby” over 30 years ago, society has witnessed a revolution in the area of artificial reproduction. However, many of the options open to infertile people also have ethical implications. This title examines the issues surrounding IVF, egg and embryo freezing, donor insemination and surrogacy, as well as morally ambiguous issues such as the creation of so-called “saviour siblings” and “designer babies” and the use of embryos in medical research.
The information comes from a wide range of sources and includes government reports and statistics, newspaper reports, features, magazine articles and surveys, literature from lobby groups and charitable organisations.
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Key Facts
- The first step in producing a new individual, fertilisation, can take place outside the body. In 1978, Louise Brown became the world’s first ‘test-tube baby’. Sperm and egg are fused in culture; the embryo develops a short while and is then implanted into the mother’s womb. (page 1)
- In the UK, about one in seven couples seek medical help to have a baby. (page 2)
- In Britain alone, 111,633 children have been born through fertility treatment; worldwide, the figure is estimated to be 3.5 million. (page 5)
- The first commercial surrogacy took place in Britain in 1985, when Kim Cotton, a mother of two, was paid £6,500 to carry a child conceived using her egg and the infertile woman’s husband’s sperm. It is now illegal for a surrogate to charge fees, but reasonable expenses may be paid. (page 7)
- Until 2002 donor anonymity still existed in the UK. However, in 2004 the decision was taken that only sperm and egg donors who were willing to be identified at a later stage should be used, with effect from April 2005. (page 11)
- An online survey of more than 300 fertility patients carried out for National Infertility Day has found that 76% would consider travelling overseas for their treatment. (page 18)
- Most British IVF clinics will not offer services to women above the age of 50. The NHS will only provide fertility treatment up to the age of 40. (page 20)
- The number of women treated with donated sperm fell by about 20 per cent, from 2,727 in 2005 to 2,107 in 2006, the first full year after anonymity for sperm donors was removed. (page 24)
- It’s not new for doctors to use tissue from the brother or sister of a sick child in the hope of curing a serious disease. But since 2001, doctors have been able to test the cells of embryos created by IVF, to see whether they are a match for the sick child. This means that, in theory, parents could have babies they have chosen specifically to help their sick child. (page 28)
- Using ‘stem cells’ from very early embryos (under 14 days of age), which are capable of developing into any of the specialised cells of the body, replacement tissue could be grown in the laboratory and used to cure many currently incurable conditions, avoiding the problem of immune rejection. But the use of human embryos raises ethical questions. (page 36)
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Table of Contents
Chapter One: Making Babies
Doing without sex, Fertility problems, Causes of infertility, IVF: the birth that started a revolution, UK lags behind the rest of Europe in IVF, Having children for same-sex couples, Egg and sperm donation, Addicted to surrogacy, Surrogacy, Adoption in the UK.
Chapter Two: Ethical Dilemmas
The ‘test tube baby’ at 30, Fertility tourism, Is 66 too old to have a baby?, Health problems for IVF twins, No end to IVF ‘postcode lottery’, Winston: egg freezing is ‘expensive confidence trick’, The donor crisis, Sperm donors are curious too, Donors creating new forms of extended families, ‘Saviour siblings’, My Jamie is not a ‘designer baby’..., Row over clinic that offers eye, skin and hair colour, Stem cell research: hope or hype?, Pope slams embryo research as immoral, A humanist discussion of embryo research, Victory for ethics?, Can sperm really be created in a laboratory?
Key Facts
Glossary
Index
Additional Resources
Acknowledgements
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The Study Guide for: Reproductive Ethics - Volume 178
Each book in the Issues series has a study guide. These four-page guides provide a variety of discussion points and other activities to suit a wide range of ability levels and interests.
Publisher: Independence Educational Publishers
Price: £1.95
ISBN: 978 1 86168 518 6
