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To what extent should parents be able to choose the kind of child they have? The unfortunate phrase 'designer baby' has become familiar in debates surrounding reproduction. As a reference to current possibilities the term is misleading, but the phrase may indicate a societal concern of some kind about control and choice in the course of reproduction. Typically, people can choose whether to have a child. They may also have an interest in choosing, to some extent, the conditions under which they do so, such as whether they have a child with a serious disability or disease. The purpose of this book is to explore the difficult and controversial question of the appropriate ethical and legal exten...
The emergence of new empirical evidence and ethical debate about families created by assisted reproduction has called into question the current regulatory frameworks that govern reproductive donation in many countries. In this multidisciplinary book, social scientists, ethicists and lawyers offer fresh perspectives on the current challenges facing the regulation of reproductive donation and suggest possible ways forward. They address questions such as: what might people want to know about the circumstances of their conception? Should we limit the number of children donors can produce? Is it wrong to pay donors or to reward them with cut-price fertility treatments? Is overseas surrogacy exploitative of women from poor communities? Combining the latest empirical research with analysis of ethics, policy and legislation, the book focuses on the regulation of gamete and embryo donation and surrogacy at a time when more people are considering assisted reproduction and when new techniques and policies are underway.
This book addresses the law and ethics concerning a pregnant woman's refusal of medical treatment needed by the fetus she carries. In England and some U.S. states a pregnant woman can now refuse such treatment. Nevertheless, courts have acknowledged the residual ethical dilemmas, sometimes adverting to the inappropriateness here of legal compulsion of presumed moral duties. This leaves the impression of an uncomfortable split between the ethics and the law. This study seeks to explain and justify a pregnant woman's legal right to refuse medical treatment and thus resolve, so far as possible, the surrounding ethical, legal and social tensions. The idea of day-to-day maternal conduct which may cause prenatal harm is also touched upon. Innovatively, the author adopts a joint philosophical and legal approach directed to issues both of principle and policy, revealing strong conceptual links between the ethics and the law. In addition to an ethical exploration of the maternal-fetal relationship the author explores the relevant English, American and some Canadian arguments from the law of treatment refusal, abortion, tort and rescue.
This article critically appraises the current legal scope of the principal applications of preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). This relatively new technique, which is available to some parents undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment, aims to ensure that a child is not born with a seemingly undesirable genetic condition. The question addressed here is whether there should be serious reasons to test for genetic conditions in embryos in order to be able to select between them. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority and the Human Genetics Commission have decided that there should be such reasons by broadly aligning the criteria for PGD with those for selective abortion. This stance is critically explored, as are its implications for the possible use of PGD to select either against or for marginal features or for significant traits. The government is currently reviewing the legal scope and regulation of PGD.
This book examines the regulation and practice of medical decision-making where the context is that of a multiple pregnancy and where the question is whether or not to carry out a fetal reduction procedure. It concerns three main lines of inquiry: first, the nature of fetal reduction and the legal ground(s) for termination typically relied upon; secondly, the extent to which legal, ethical, and professional norms guide or constrain this particular kind of decision-making; and, thirdly, the adequacy of these norms. The book uses empirical sources to develop its analysis, contributing new insight and the kind of evidence necessary to shape regulation, clinical practice, and future research. Th...
Throughout the seventeenth century, early modern play readers and playgoers copied dramatic extracts (selections from plays and masques) into their commonplace books, verse miscellanies, diaries, and songbooks. Dramatic Extracts in Seventeenth-Century English Manuscripts: Watching, Reading, Changing Plays is the first to examine these often overlooked texts, which reveal what early modern audiences and readers took, literally and figuratively, from plays. As this under-examined archival evidence shows, play readers and playgoers viewed plays as malleable and modular texts to be altered, appropriated, and, most importantly, used. These records provide information that is not available in othe...
This book presents the findings of the RCOG Study Group findings on genetics underlying reproductive function.
Brings together different disciplinary perspectives and new empirical insights to explore the regulation of assisted reproduction around the world.
Argues that the advent of assisted reproductive technologies has given rise to new enforceable rights under international law.
This is the first transnational history of IVF and assisted reproduction. It is a key text for scholars and students in social science, history, science and technology studies (STS), cultural studies, and gender and sexuality studies, and a resource for journalists, policymakers, and anyone interested in assisted reproduction. IVF was seen as revolutionary in 1978 when the first two IVF babies were born, in the UK and India. Assisted reproduction has now contributed to the birth of around ten million people. The book traces the work of IVF teams as they developed new techniques and laid the foundations of a multi-billion-dollar industry. It analyses the changing definitions and experience of...