Reproductive Technologies

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Reproductive Technologies
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Reproductive Ethics

• Youre the Counselor!!Case 6.1
• How would you counsel a couple who had come to
  you for advice on dealing with infertility?
• Emotional Factors
• Moral Issues

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Different Technologies to Make a Baby

• Inter-Uterine Insemination
• By Husband
• By Donor (also egg donation)
• In Vitro Fertilization Family
• GIFT (Gamete Intrafallopian Transfer),
  Z(zygote)IFT, IVF
• Surrogate Motherhood
• ICSI (Sperm Injection)

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Types of Surrogate Motherhood

• Genetic--surrogate provides egg and womb
• Gestational--surrogate only provides womb
• Commercial--done for a 10,000-50,000 fee plus
  expenses
• Altruistic--done for expenses only

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Theological Foundations

• Medical Technology in Theological Perspective
• Dominion Mandate (Gen. 1-2)
• Impact of the Entrance of Sin
• Stewardship over Creation
• Place of General Revelation and Common Grace
• Must Evaluate the Uses of Technology

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Theological Foundations

• Genesis 1-2--The Context for Procreation
• Permanent, monogamous, heterosexual marriage
• Novel ways of procreation in the OT
• Surrogacy
• Levirate Marriage
• Polygamy
• Other violations of the norm in Genesis 1-2
• Divorce

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Theological Foundations

• Use of Gen. 1-2 by NT Authors
• Romans 1
• I Timothy 2
• I Cor. 11
• Matt. 19
• Conclusion---Genesis account of creation carries
  great weight with NT authors.

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Theological Foundations

• Sacredness of Human Life--Being in the Image of
  God
• Continuity of Personal Identity from Earliest
  Points of ones life
• Psalm 139, Psalm 51 (Exodus 21 22-25)
• Doctrine of the Incarnation
• Embryos and Biblical Teaching

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Moral Status of Fetuses and Embryos

• Thesis Personhood begins at conception
• Common views of a person assume a continuity of
  personal identity from the earliest points of
  pregnancy
• Personhood is a matter of essence, not function.
  Personhood is not a degreed property.
• The difference between an embryo in the lab and
  and fetus in the womb is one of location

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Moral Status of Fetuses and Embryos

• All adult persons are the result of a continuous
  process of development that begins at conception.
• There is no ontologically or morally relevant
  break in the process from conception to birth.
• Thus, one is a person from conception forward.

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Theological Parameters--Summary

• Sanctity of Marriage
• Sacredness of life from conception onward
• Be fruitful and multiply
• Rescuing the vulnerable
• Adoption as the metaphor for our relationship
  with God
• Technology a qualified good

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Catholic Reproductive Ethics

• Key distinction assisting vs. replacing normal
  sex in marriage
• Inseparable connection between the unitive and
  procreative aspects of sex
• it is never permitted to separate these
  different aspects so such a degree as positively
  to exclude either the procreative intention or
  the conjugal relation.

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Catholic Reproductive Ethics

• Menopause??
• Scripture treats the unitive element of sex as a
  sufficient end (I Corinthians 7, Song of Solomon)
• Rhythm Method of birth control could compromise
  this separation.
• Genesis 1-2 require procreation in the sphere of
  marriage, not sexual relations.

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Case 6.2--for Discussion

• Couple married 4 years.
• Man infertile due to untreated mumps as a kid.
• Wife wants a sperm donor so she can have her own
  child.
• Husband is uneasy about having a procreative
  pinch hitter.

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Cases for Discussion

• Couple married for 6 years.
• Married when older so started trying to conceive
  immediately
• Trying for 4 years.
• Physician recommends an egg donor since wife is
  in her early 40s.

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Questions About Specific Technologies

• Problems with the IVF Family
• Disposition of Leftover Embryos
• Selective Termination of Pregnancies
• Problems with Surrogate Motherhood
• Is it the sale of children?
• In gestational surrogacy, who is the mother?
• Potential legal problems
• Contested Custody
• Genetic Abnormality

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Surrogacy Case-Case 6.3

• Couple married for 10 years, trying for 6 years
• Conceived through IVF--triplets.
• Miscarried the triplets and had massive uterine
  hemorrhage.
• Underwent emergency hysterectomy
• They have 5 embryos left in storage from IVF
• They want to hire a surrogate to carry them

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The Brave New World

• Human Procreative Cloning
• Artificial Wombs
• Fetal Egg Donors
• Gender Selection
• Designer Embryos
• Postmenopausal Pregnancies
• Brain Death and Pregnancy
• Posthumous Procreation