ASSISTED REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGY LEGAL AND ETHICAL ISSUES

Assisted Reproductive Technology Legal and Ethical Issues

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.

Embryos

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 (Prg & Mills, 2017). The fear of giving genetically related embryos to an unknown person hinders the couples willingness to donate. The couples fear the children born out of this...

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 (Prg & Mills, 2017).

Implanting Multiple Embryos

The costs associated with ART are high and rarely covered by insurance, deterring many couples from pursuing the treatment. Those...

…when the child was born and had a mutual agreement they want to use IVF.

Pros And Cons of Insurance Coverage Toward the Cost of Infertility Treatments

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.

The major con of insurance coverage is that more and more couples would take advantage of IVF to give birth to children who have been genetically diagnosed, ensuring they are healthy before implantation (Greenfield et al., 2017). Eliminating any hereditary disease transfer and ensuring no abnormalities…