In Vitro Fertilization Research

Not every woman or couple is capable of naturally conceiving a child and giving birth. Infertility as well as rising prevalence of homosexual couples in the eyes of the fields of medicine has lead to the development of methods of assisted reproduction, one method being that of In Vitro Fertilization. In Vitro Fertilization, or IVF, has become a method of assisted reproduction highly recommended by physicians for infertile or homosexual couples. IVF, as it is related to the beginning of a life of a human, the health of the mother, and the family situation that a child could be born into, has raised many social issues over the years of its existence. Using the following referenced publications, aspects of IVF have been compiled with a focus …show more content…
Birenbaum-Carmeli found in her research that women had a large role in influencing what technologies scientists desired to create pertaining to in vitro fertilization. The lead goal of IVF was to develop new contraceptive methods, identify causes of genetic disorders, and then be able to diagnose them at the preimplantation stage, as well as overcome infertility caused by blocked ovarian tubes. It soon because very popular due to the demand from infertile persons. This lead IVF to becoming the routine prescription for infertility in cases where the man is “impaired.” There were also many regulations put into place when morality issues arose such as when human life begins and the most desirable family structure. This lead to restrictions on a woman’s age as well as access for a single or lesbian woman. There were also conflicting views of the treatment of women, as some saw IVF as giving power to women, as all she needed from a man was sperm and the rest was in her control, while other saw it as a women simply being passive and letting herself be manipulated by doctors. There were also a lot of problems with …show more content…
The article by Fasouliotis, S. J., & Schenker, J. G.’s findings on the restrictions on IVF also correlate to the restrictions discussed by Birenbaum-Carmeli, as she examines the fact that there were regulations in place on who would receive IVF due to religious and societal beliefs influencing the idea that a certain type of family was needed to raise and care for a child. The survey results from Lawrence et al.’s article also mention the age limit for IVF, as they both mention how women are more often delaying motherhood, and thus becoming closer to menopause where they would become unable to have children, so many doctors would not recommend an older woman attempting