Summary: The Ethics Of Fertility Preservation

A new ethical discussion is emerging in the oncology world due to overwhelming advances in fertility preservation in all age groups. The journal article “The Ethics of Fertility Preservation for Paediatric Cancer Patients: From Offer to Rebuttable Presumption” addresses the pressing need to discuss the ethics of failing to preserve fertility as this current practice may no longer be considered ethically appropriate for populations for whom established techniques are available. The current standard practice involves merely offering the option of fertility preservation procedures to children and young adults with cancer. Previous ethical discussions of fertility preservation have focused on the question of whether it is appropriate to perform fertility preservation procedures for a particular patient. The question at the heart of this article suggests the new discussion needs to address the question, “is failing to proceed with fertility preservation ethically justifiable?’” (McDougall 2015). The article gives some
The first benefit is to prevent or minimize a decrease in future fertility. By preventing this avoidable decrease, that child is given to the opportunity to make future reproductive choices. Failing to offer fertility preservation deprives the child of a choice that he or she would have otherwise had. The second benefit is the demonstration of concern for the child’s future fertility. Undergoing a fertility preservation procedure is no guarantee that the patient will become a parent to a baby who is genetically related to him or her. However, the attempt to preserve the child’s fertility demonstrates the parents’ and clinicians’ concern for the child’s future reproductive choices. These significant benefits justify a presumption in favor of attempting fertility preservation, assuming that there are effective and established techniques