Fertility treatment
Fertility treatments are used when people want to have children, but are unable to conceive naturally. Usually this is because of some kind of medical problem, but occasionally people seek fertility treatment because they are in a homosexual relationship, or are they are not in a relationship but they still want to have children, or they have passed the natural age for child-bearing.
Fertility treatment can take many different forms, depending on the problem that is preventing conception naturally. Sometimes drugs can be used to overcome these problems but often conceiving a baby becomes much more difficult, for some this means waiting for months or even years.
Sometimes a pregnancy can be created using IVF which is in “in vitro” or “in glass” fertilisation. IVF involves the egg and the sperm being brought together outside the women’s body, in a test tube, and then if conception takes place and an embryo is formed the embryo is carefully placed back inside the women’s body in the hope that it will continue to grow.
Another method of fertility treatment is Artificial insemination. Sperm is collected an placed in the women’s uterus artificially. Sometimes it is the husbands sperm, (AIH), but if the husband is unable to produce healthy sperm, or if the women does not have a male partner, sperm can be used which comes from an anonymous donor (AID).
IVF and other forms of fertility treatment, do not always work, and they can be very expensive procedures. However, if they do work and a baby is born, people can become parents and experience all the pleasures of bringing up their children.
This may satisfy situation ethicist as it follows the presumption of personalism, people should be put first. As fertility treatment is the most loving result for the person seeking a child.
However the problem comes when one begins to think about who is to be put first? Although the consequence is the most loving result for the parent, will the...