Artificial Insemination 4
Fernando P. Andrada II, PTRP, RN May 13, 2009
BIOETHICS
ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION
A. Historical Milleu of the development of the bioethical issue The reproductive revolution is upon us. The past half-century has seen the development of reproductive technologies previous generations could not even imagine. The term reproductive technology refers to various medical procedures that are designed to alleviate infertility, or the inability of a couple to produce a child of their own. These include artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization (or "test-tube" babies), and surrogate motherhood. These technologies have radically expanded human control over the biological process, and have been designed both to prevent and to achieve successful pregnancy. When successful, these technologies are the miracle of life for couples who have often spent years trying to have a child, and who have exhausted all other avenues for conceiving a child of their own. We are so often amazed how science and medicine have brought human reproduction to new heights. It is not uncommon for us to hear news about a mother giving birth to multiple babies, national geographic and discovery channels showing the process of human reproduction in a laboratory, and the likes, that leave us in awe “Nakakabilib, and galing naman” is what we often say . But should we accept these technologies as it is. What we often see is already the end of a means. Have we dared assessing the morality of such means? While this new reproductive technologies give great hope to infertile couples and make many new reproductive arrangements possible, they also raise many difficult and complex moral issues and questions. What is the morality of these procedures? What does it mean to separate conception from the act of sexual union? To whom should these technologies be made available? What is the moral status of the fertilized embryos? Those who dismiss these questions as irrelevant or
BIOETHICS
ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION
A. Historical Milleu of the development of the bioethical issue The reproductive revolution is upon us. The past half-century has seen the development of reproductive technologies previous generations could not even imagine. The term reproductive technology refers to various medical procedures that are designed to alleviate infertility, or the inability of a couple to produce a child of their own. These include artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization (or "test-tube" babies), and surrogate motherhood. These technologies have radically expanded human control over the biological process, and have been designed both to prevent and to achieve successful pregnancy. When successful, these technologies are the miracle of life for couples who have often spent years trying to have a child, and who have exhausted all other avenues for conceiving a child of their own. We are so often amazed how science and medicine have brought human reproduction to new heights. It is not uncommon for us to hear news about a mother giving birth to multiple babies, national geographic and discovery channels showing the process of human reproduction in a laboratory, and the likes, that leave us in awe “Nakakabilib, and galing naman” is what we often say . But should we accept these technologies as it is. What we often see is already the end of a means. Have we dared assessing the morality of such means? While this new reproductive technologies give great hope to infertile couples and make many new reproductive arrangements possible, they also raise many difficult and complex moral issues and questions. What is the morality of these procedures? What does it mean to separate conception from the act of sexual union? To whom should these technologies be made available? What is the moral status of the fertilized embryos? Those who dismiss these questions as irrelevant or