Ethical Issues of Assisted Reproduction - Essay Example

Importantly, the question of who should authorize and finance neo-natal intensive care also feature prominently in assisted reproduction. In addition to the above issues, selective abortion in assisted reproduction, more so gender-based abortions is the other issue faced with myriad ethical challenges. Most challenged by selective abortion are the pro-abortion/choice people who happen to reject selective abortion, thereby applying double standards. Introduction In the contemporary science-oriented society, it has been made possible for those who are not in a position to attain fertilization because of irreversible damages to their reproductive organs to have children (Gensler, 2003).

The use of the various scientific techniques to assist women in fertilization is referred to as assisted reproduction. Assisted fertilization is particularly important for couples who have unexplained infertility or complications with their reproductive systems. Among the well-known techniques of assisted reproduction include In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) in which a woman is given fertility drugs whose function is to stimulate the ovaries to produce more ova. Once an ovum or two are retrieved from the ovaries, they are mixed with sperms in a cultured Petri dish and allowed to fertilize.

The other methods of assisted reproduction are intra-cytoplasmic sperm insertion (ICSI), Gamete Intra-fallopian Tube Transfer (GIFT), and Zygote Intra-fallopian Transfer (ZIFT) among others. Many ethical and moral issues have surrounded the profession of assisted reproduction, particularly surrogacy, selective abortion, and the support of extremely premature infants (Gensler, 2003). This paper explores the ethical issues of the above practices of assisted reproduction. Ethical Dilemmas of Surrogacy That the world has entered a new scientific age as far as reproduction is concerned is never disputed.

It is now possible for a human being to be created in a Petri dish provided human sperms and eggs are mixed in a favorable environment (Shanley, 2002). Nevertheless, questions have always been asked whether surrogacy is right, moral, and ethical. These questions arise out of the numerous issues and complaints on the ethics of surrogacy. For instance, the mere thought or idea of creating a human being in a test tube, by an unrelated woman and the accompanying fear on the would-be parents is an ethical issue in itself.

There is also the belief that only the privileged few are in a position to create perfect children genetically, exploiting the poor who are the egg/sperm donors in most cases. Moreover, through assisted reproduction, scientists and surrogate parents discriminate and choose the preferred genes, sex, and only select children without specific diseases. Most of those opposed to surrogacy argue that it would be more ethical and morally upright for people seeking surrogacy to adopt the many unfortunate babies born daily in the world.

In other words, it should be the duty of infertile couples to adopt such babies, instead of creating more science babies into an already overcrowded world. Sex Selective Abortions Selective abortion is the other contentious issue in assisted reproduction that has attracted a lot of attention and heated debates in the health and medical industry. A common argument among stakeholders is that pro-abortion or