Assisted Reproductive Technology Legal Ethical Challenges

Assisted reproductive technology (ART) raises ethical and legal challenges for individuals, health care professionals, and society. ART has successfully helped millions of infertile couples worldwide to get children (Londra, Wallach, & Zhao, 2014). Since the birth of the first in vitro fertilization baby in 1978, tremendous strides have been made to improve the technology and increase its usage across the globe. However, as will all new technology, there are ethical and legal challenges following ART.

The first and significant ethical challenge has to do with embryos. Most couples will fertilize as many eggs as they can when undergoing treatment and freeze the remaining embryos for later use. According to (Londra et al., 2014) eventually, the couples will be left with many unused embryos and cannot decide what to do with the embryos. The fertility clinics storing the embryos struggle to dispose of them off since they fear the couples might sue them if they do so without the couples’ consent. The result is that the clinics have large numbers of embryos stored that are not being used and cannot be disposed of. Some couples might want to donate their embryos for research, but they are confused by different laws and restrictions hindering their ability to donate. By law, the couple owns the frozen embryos and should have the right to decide what to do with them (Londra et al., 2014). However, the lack of proper guidance and information confuses many couples who end up keeping the embryos.

Donating the embryos to other couples is another option that could reduce the number of frozen embryos. The moral and ethical concerns surrounding the donation of the embryos limit most couples’ ability to do so (Präg & Mills, 2017). The fear of giving genetically related embryos to an unknown person hinders the couple’s willingness to donate. The couples fear the children born out of this strategy might lay claim to them in the future and demand for DNA tests to confirm they are the parents. The law is unclear on what should be done in such cases, making it difficult for couples to determine if they are ready to take the chance. The extra embryos should be destroyed or donated for research that would not result in the birth of a child. Having a genetically related child cold raise legal problems for the couple in the future if the child discovers the truth about the donors of the embryo (Präg & Mills, 2017).

The costs associated with ART are high and rarely covered by insurance, deterring many couples from pursuing the treatment. Those who can afford it prefer to implant multiple embryos at one time, creating more embryos than the couple needs (Londra et al., 2014). The overall objective is to reduce their costs and have as many embryos as possible with the hopes that one can be carried to term. Multiple implantations lead to multiple births, resulting in increased chances of unsafe pregnancy. Therefore, the number of embryos implanted in a woman should be reduced to ensure she has an opportunity to carry the pregnancy to term. While there is a case to support multiple implantations, the risks associated with this practice far outweigh its use. The woman already has trouble conceiving, and having multiple embryos implanted simultaneously will not be a favorable situation. Also, due to the high costs of the treatment, the couple should be sure of the embryo implanted instead of implanting numerous embryos, the equivalent of shooting in the dark and expecting to hit a target. Another ethical question that arises is what happens to multiple fetuses if the couple is not prepared to raise multiple children? Consideration should be made, and the couple advised on the risks of having multiple embryos implanted, ensuring they understand the risks and the possible outcomes.

In all cases of in vitro fertilization, the intended parents are the child’s legal parents. The person providing the egg or sperm is not recognized as a legal parent. The law is very clear that the donor forfeits all child legal claims and is mandated to sign a legal document stating they agree to the terms. If they are known to the intended parents, they will still be required to agree to donate the egg or sperm to the couple. In most states, the sperm or egg donor is not recognized as the parent, and they do not have any parental rights to the child. The only time the sperm donor would be presumed to be a parent is if they are the husband or de facto partner to the mother. When a person donates their egg or sperm, they give up all legal rights to the child born from the egg or sperm they donated (Präg & Mills, 2017). The only exception to this law is if they are included as the mother or father in the birth certificate. Legally, the donor cannot be mandated to care for the child even if the intended parents are unable to or in case of death of the intended parents. The legal protection is there to ensure that one is not forced to care for a child who came about as a way of helping out a friend.

Parents of a child born through IVF will not be required to file any additional legal paperwork to become the legal custodians of the child (Greenfield et al., 2017). The intended parents will list their names on the child’s birth certificate file as parents who conceive naturally. If the intended parents divorce, the child’s parentage remains the same, and there is no distinction between IVF children and naturally conceived children. Even if one parent does not have any genetic material of the child, they are still considered the legal parents provided they were together when the child was born and had a mutual agreement they want to use IVF.

The first pro for insurance covering infertility treatments is the reduction of twins being born (Klitzman, 2017). Many couples opt for multiple implantations to reduce the cost of treatment. However, with insurance coverage, the couple could opt for single implantation, which, if unsuccessful, they can try again without fearing the overall costs. The second pro is that many couples could get the family they have always wanted. Infertility treatments are pretty expensive, and many couples cannot afford the huge amounts needed for IVF limiting their ability to have children (Klitzman, 2017). Parents can opt to freeze their embryos if they want to have children later in life. Some couples would like to get children later in life, and as we know, the chance of natural conception decreases with advanced age. Therefore, these couples could use IVF if they receive insurance coverage and freeze their embryos until they are ready to have children.