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IVF: Moral & Social Issues

IVF: Moral & Social Issues. What is IVF. In Vitro Fertilization IVF embryos are embryos created in a laboratory ‘Test-tube’ babies. Moral Issues. Is the embryo considered a human life? Does human life begin: At the conception? Two weeks after conception? Two months after conception?

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IVF: Moral & Social Issues

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  1. IVF: Moral & Social Issues

  2. What is IVF • In Vitro Fertilization • IVF embryos are embryos created in a laboratory • ‘Test-tube’ babies

  3. Moral Issues Is the embryo considered a human life? Does human life begin: • At the conception? • Two weeks after conception? • Two months after conception? • At birth? • What determines it?

  4. Can embryo be human if it is still: • Mass of tissue and blood; • Not fully developed; • Is not conscious; • Not big enough; • Inside the womb;

  5. Dependent on the mother; • Does not look human; • Part of the woman’s body; • Bunch of cells; • Is not wanted.

  6. What is a universal definition of what makes a life a human life? A human is a living organism with human chromosomes and DNA independent of time or place.

  7. Is it a right or a privilege to have a child? • The decision to give birth to a child – not taken lightly; • Can every person be a parent?

  8. Is IVF available to all people? The cost: $ 12, 400.00 Not every family can afford it, because on average couples need to undergo several cycles.

  9. More moral issues • Creation of life in a laboratory; • Embryos can be exposed to chemicals; • Possibility of genetic disease.

  10. More than just one embryo is fertilized; - Some must be frozen and discarded; - Can killing an embryo be justified to save another?

  11. Fertility drugs: birth of multiples: - Risks to the mother – anemia, excessive blood pressure; Fetal reduction –abortion of weaker babies; Contributes to the overpopulation of the earth.

  12. Destruction of embryos due to a disability - disabled rejected by society; Are the disabled embryos considered less valuable - more right to termination?

  13. Potential to genetically modify or select embryos – creation of ‘Designer Babies’; • The creation of homogenous gene pools; • Particular sex selection.

  14. Is it right for IVF technicians to select embryos who are “perfect” to transfer to the mother’s womb? • Discuss how a couple might react if a selected “perfect” embryo turned out to have a disability when born.

  15. Catholic view:Problems with IVF • Problems with IVF: • Separates the unitive and procreative characteristics of marriage; • Destruction of unused embryos - ending of human life. • Human life has great value and it cannot be used as means to an end.

  16. In his 1995 encyclical The Gospel of Life, Pope John Paul II wrote: "Human embryos obtained in vitro are human beings and are subjects with rights; their dignity and right to life must be respected from the first moment of their existence. It is immoral to produce human embryos destined to be exploited as disposable 'biological material'" (1,5).

  17. Bibliography • Partially created by By Lucy Foskett • Allen, Kerrie “IVF and embryonic stem cell research: the social and ethical issues” 2005 <http://www.ad2000.com.au/articles/2005/may2005p12_1931.html> (07/10/07) • Malpani, Dr. Aniruddha “The Social & Ethical Issues - Right or Wrong?” http://drmalpani.com/book/chapter46.html (07/10/07) • Goldworth, Amnon. The ethics of Invitro Fertilization.

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