The field of bioethics provides some answers to the question. Bioethics is defined as a field of study concerned with the ethical and philosophical implications of certain biological and medical procedures, technologies, and treatments, as organ transplants, genetic engineering, and care of the terminally ill. Specifically, in medicine, it deals with the ethical and moral implications of new biological discoveries and biomedical advances, as in the fields of genetic engineering and drug research . The rapid growth and presence of ethicists in the field highlight the importance of a need for checks and balance in the area. This is no to say that the innovations in themselves are unethical, but that the implication of innovations can be unethical.
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It is usually a five (5) step process. The steps are; stimulation, egg retrieval, insemination and fertilization, embryo culture, and embryo transfer. IVF has been growing rapidly in recent years. Many couples who were incapable of having biological children are now presented with an option for producing children. For biomedical innovators, this is a great success. Also, one must argue that for many, IVF is a welcomed answer to a problem. However, for others like the Catholic Church and a distinct group of feminists IVF offers more harm than good. The Church argues that it is manipulating the ‘work’ of God, while some feminists have argued that it is an exploitation of women; another manipulation by men and their quest to control reproduction . Others have argued that the process has created a new disease known as infertility. Before IVF, there was not a ‘cure’ for infertility. It was a natural phenomenon. However, with the fact that there is something that offers a solution, even with the low success rate, infertility is now labeled a disease and must be treated. This creates stress on many infertile persons as they (especially women) are forced to endure the risks resulting from society’s increased negative on infertility. IVF has opened the door to genetic modification. With the embryo being outside of the body, physicians are better able to manipulate genes to produce or ‘create’ the perfect child per the desire of the parents. Numerous ethical issues are raised, which cannot be answered adequately by biomedical innovators. This issue affects not only the ‘patients’ or potential parents, but society as a whole, and therefore needs the input of various
It is usually a five (5) step process. The steps are; stimulation, egg retrieval, insemination and fertilization, embryo culture, and embryo transfer. IVF has been growing rapidly in recent years. Many couples who were incapable of having biological children are now presented with an option for producing children. For biomedical innovators, this is a great success. Also, one must argue that for many, IVF is a welcomed answer to a problem. However, for others like the Catholic Church and a distinct group of feminists IVF offers more harm than good. The Church argues that it is manipulating the ‘work’ of God, while some feminists have argued that it is an exploitation of women; another manipulation by men and their quest to control reproduction . Others have argued that the process has created a new disease known as infertility. Before IVF, there was not a ‘cure’ for infertility. It was a natural phenomenon. However, with the fact that there is something that offers a solution, even with the low success rate, infertility is now labeled a disease and must be treated. This creates stress on many infertile persons as they (especially women) are forced to endure the risks resulting from society’s increased negative on infertility. IVF has opened the door to genetic modification. With the embryo being outside of the body, physicians are better able to manipulate genes to produce or ‘create’ the perfect child per the desire of the parents. Numerous ethical issues are raised, which cannot be answered adequately by biomedical innovators. This issue affects not only the ‘patients’ or potential parents, but society as a whole, and therefore needs the input of various