Ethical Issues of Reproductive Technologies: Designer Babies, Sex Selection and Donor Babies

The technology of assisted reproduction has progressed rapidly in recent years, enabling infertile couples to have the children they long for. However, with these advances come numerous ethical dilemmas .This essay looks at three important areas of reproductive technologies; ‘designer babies’, sex selection and ‘donor babies’, which all raise their own ethical issues; ethical arguments for and against each are discussed. ‘Designer babies’ describes the use of several technologies, particularly Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis, which give parents an element of control over their offspring’s characteristics.

The dilemma is whether it is ethical to design babies by selecting an embryo in this way. The main argument for these techniques is that they can help prevent certain genetic diseases. The main argume t against is that of the ‘slippery slope’ towards designing babies for physical or psychological traits. Sex selection for medical reasons is largely accepted as ethical, but when carried out for non-medical reasons, is met with objections. The case for permitting sex selection for non-medical reasons is that it serves the desires of couples who have strong preferences regarding the gender of their offspring. However, this raises worries regarding gender discrimination and inappropriate use of medical resources. ‘Donor babies’ refers to the use of donated gametes by infertile couples. There is much debate on the acceptability of gamete donation in circumstances where infertility is due to psychosocial factors e.g. in lesbian couples or most-menopausal women. A major argument against oocyte donation to older women is that there is a ‘natural’ limit to reproductive capacity and to transcend this would be ‘unnatural’, balanced against an argument of ‘reproductive freedom’.

New reproductive technologies are helping infertile couples have the children they yearn for, and additionally, are saving lives and preventing disease. However, there are clearly many ethical issues and contrasting viewpoints to consider with regards to these technologies, and it must be remembered, that regulation is important to avoid the use of these powerful technologies for inappropriate purposes. J NI Ethics Forum 2008, 5: 87-96

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