First, an apology, I wrote this last week but completely failed to upload it to this blog. Sorry again, anyway, here it is:
Once again I have lived up to my reputation for picking highly contentious issues to deal with in this blog. I had better explain that by fertility treatment I am refering to various methods of allowing infertile couples to have a baby using scientific method. Certain methods involve a third, or even fourth and fifth parties in the pregnancy.
For ease I have only dealt with In-Vitro Fertilisation or IVF. This is because the arguments from method to method vary so wildly.
In the below I have stayed well away from religious reasons for and against fertility treatment. You could, for example, claim that God is the creator and by using fertility treatment we are playing God which is wrong. These sort of arguments lead to large and complex debates so I have stayed with scientific and moral principles only.
Fertility Treatment is RIGHT:
1. Everyone should be able to have a child (if they want).
Infertility is a highly distressing experience for those that it involves. For many people one of their most heartfelt ambitions is to have a child so being unable to concieve naturally can be highly upsetting. It also means that for those who have their reproductive organs removed (for cancer, etc) they can still have the chance to a child.
2. Screening for possible illnesses.
This is particularly useful for families where there is a history of life threatening diseases. When eggs are produced outside the womb they are much easier to screen to see whether or not they ahve a chance of developing a particular condition.
3. The ability to save one child by having another.
Sometimes a child can be born with certain conditions that can only be rectified by having a blood transfusion or similar operation. Unfortunately, the immunological match has to be so similar that only a sibling will do. Screening prior to implantation in the womb can lead to a second child which has the ability to act as a cure for the first.
Fertility Treatment is WRONG:
1. It can lead to dangerous multiple pregnancies.
In IVF it is against common sense to implant only one embryo as the chance of each embryo taking hold and developing is so slight. This means that normally multiple embryos are implanted into the womb. This is fine if only one starts growing. But if several start growing various factors come into play. The more babies a woman carries the more chance there is of complications for her and her children possibly leading to certain disabilities, conditions and even death.
2. What if multiple embryos develop?
This is a stage further back from the above. With IVF you take several eggs from the woman and sperm from the man and mix them before implanting some of the resulting embryos into the womb. But what do you do with the spare embryos? Do you throw them away? This is hard because certain philosophies believe that from conception onwards that is a 'life' and it shouldn't be taken away. Do you implant them all? That, as stated above, can lead to increased risks for mother and child(ren). This is an intricate moral dilemna, and one which is hard to resolve.
3. The childs sense of self.
What will the child think about himself. If one of the parents is infertile you might involve the eggs or sperm of a person outside the partnership. Under current English law the child would not have the right to find out who their biological father or mother was. This could lead to identity problems later on, confusing the child and making them depressed.
My Opinion:
So, what do I think? I am personally all in favour of fertility treatment. A lot of the arguments against it are religious and don't really impact on my overall view much. The remaining 'pros' then far outweigh the remaining 'cons'. I feel that people should be able to have a child if they want one and that the ability to prevent or cure diseases is a remarkable and highly comendable one. I think the child's sense of self is the strongest argument against but normally does not come into play through IVF. This is why I am in favour of IVF but not so sure of my position towards, for example, AID or Surrogate Motherhood. As for the dangers of multiple pregnancies? They exist in any pregnancy and the chances are relatively slim so I would be happy to take the risk. As for getting rid of embryos I wouldn't feel much guilt as I don't believe it is a 'person' yet. But that is for next time...
