what is the ethical consideration in artificial insemination

Ethical Consideration in Artificial Insemination

Abstract

Artificial Insemination (AI ) seen as break through technology in giving hope to the infertile couples has brought a number of ethical dilemmas for the society and medical practitioners . Concern for the social and psychological development of the child born in unusual situations safety of the fetus in conception by AI to mentally or socially challenged individuals dilemmas posed by religious , legal , social and moral norms are some of the challenges that continue to be debated . This looks at these dilemmas and legal and social aspects

of these challenges

Outline

Introduction

Outline of Various Course of Action

Courses of Action to Resolve the Ethical Considerations

Problem Owners and Decision Makers

Medical Professionals Role

Discussions- My Opinion

Ethical Consideration in Artificial Insemination

Introduction

Artificial Insemination was developed in the first quarter of 20th century by 1940s , artificial insemination had acquired a fully developed commercial technique for breeding farm animals [Foote , 2002] It was only to be expected that millions of infertile couples desperate to have children of their own would soon be able to benefit from development of the same technology for human reproduction . When the technology was sufficiently developed to inseminate infertile women , it was hailed as a break through and answer to the prayers of infertile couples throughout the world . Now the science could give nature a helping hand to artificially inseminate the woman from her husband 's sperm by techniques superior to natural conception such as intrauterine conception . This was described as AIH , artificial insemination by husband

If the woman 's husband had a low sperm count , a new technique could be applied where husband 's sperm was mixed with a donor 's sperm and the combined sperm was used to inseminate the woman . This was done to circumvent the ethical problems faced at the time . Insemination by a donor 's sperm was considered equivalent to adultery . With combined artificial insemination (AIC , it was not possible to conclude that husband was not the father of the child . This minor ethical problem is dwarfed by the ethical problems that AI introduced in subsequent years

In a recent move Israel 's Attorney General authorized removal of sperm from a dead man at the request of man 's wife or common law wife for inseminating the spouse . Under this new regulation , a woman must obtain permission from a court to obtain , freeze and use sperm from a dead spouse [Siegel-Itzkovich , 2003] . In another case , a 69-year-old woman who had never been interested in having children of her own suddenly became interested in having children after her husband 's death . She used her husband 's sperm stored in a fertility clinic before his death , for in-vitro fertilization (IVF . The woman is determined to have a child now in her own words "Everything will be fine , but if anything goes wrong with me my niece is also pregnant with our child . She has volunteered to be a surrogate mother and I want both pregnancies to succeed " [Greiner...