Ethical Theory Vs Natural Law Theory

My clients Sarah and Jim are married, and for a while now have been trying to conceive naturally. They still have not conceived, from my understanding if they are not able to conceive, they are quite open minded to adoption. Both of my clients have different moral theories. On one hand, Sarah is all for the Natural law theory. And on the other hand, Jim is all for Utilitarianism. On one hand, Sarah promotes the Natural Law theory. Even though she is quiet eager to have her first child, she is not willing to push her beliefs aside in the process. Any kind of reproductive assistance may affect her beliefs. In the Natural law theory they believe that the process of reproduction must consist of a married couple engaging in sexual activities. …show more content…
In a utilitarian point of view they believe in the best for the society. They also believe in the best outcome for the child. Jim seems to be interested in the greater good of any situation. With this being said this is where the controversy comes between him and his wife Sarah. Jim says in his point of view it’s mostly about the outcome for him. He thinks that if he balances the suffering of not having a child and the treatment not being victorious he would rather try the procedure. Jim thinks the happiness of him having a child will outweigh the pain of him not having a child or not trying to attempt to have a child. Jim also has a limit. His limit is destroying the embryos that are not going to be used and are probably going to be frozen until the first procedure is done to see the outcome. He would prefer if they were donated to another couple. His request is to not implant more than two embryos at a time , this way if any of the two embryos turn out to have a defect he would prefer to have them because the life on the fetus weighs more than not bringing the child in the world. Usually in an IVF procedure after we have implanted the embryo especially if it was more than one. There is a slight chance of the fetus having a defect either cerebral palsy or blindness. Jim still explains to me that there is another line that he might draw which is the act of masturbation in the process of us collecting his sperm. He speaks about not wanting to masturbate because his wife is catholic and they do not believe in the whole process of masturbation. He says that his sperm has to come from a sexual act with his wife. I then explained to him the alternative method of him having sex with his wife with a condom that has a hole in it (Perforated condom). Even though he is using a perforated condom it gives them the chance of natural reproduction. However, it’s still a way to collect his sperm without masturbating. This