The Ethics of In Vitro Fertilization
Introduction and Background:
Imagine being told that you were not able to conceive because you are infertile. How would that make you feel? For most, that would make them feel incredibly discouraged. However, there is a technology in science now called in vitro fertilization (IVF) that could help with this issue. IVF can help the ten percent of couples who have issues conceiving (Van Voorhis 2007). These couples in most cases have tried for years to have a child. The use of this technology is not always supported because it presents some ethical issues such as the creation of designer babies and negative effects on the children. So should the use of these reproductive technologies be used in today's society?
The multi-step process of in vitro fertilization is used for people with fertility problems. IVF helps humans that are infertile and need help reproducing in many ways. This relates to the textbook by Hunt and Colander in Chapter 6 and 8 which are the chapters based on technology and family. The topic of IVF incorporates modern reproductive technology. Many people are unaware of the benefits of it, while many are so scared of the possible future of this technology, which is why there are so many ethical issues surrounding the topic. IVF incorporates the family chapter of our textbook because it could change the future way we see a family in society. That is because now you are using gamete donors and potential surrogates, leading to a possible change in our modern family. The content on IVF will be presented as a qualitative analysis because I will dive deeper into the ethical issues presented with it.
Methodology:
In vitro fertilization has the potential to benefit society. One of the reasons is because it can help everyone, by allowing people to have offspring with their own genetics. This means that it reaches out to the LGBTQ as well as others, by allowing this community to create families through surrogacy and donors. Surrogacy is a woman volunteering to be a host and carry a baby to term (Surrogacy 2016), allowing for the LGBTQ to benefit from this technology. This also allows for families to choose when it is best for them to have a child because eggs and sperm can be cryopreserved, thus allowing for the family to choose when they want to have a child by having their viable parts preserved for the future. This could alter society and our concept of family because we will now see older parents and possibly multiple parents to a child if they use IVF. This technology can also help people conceive without the worries of genetic diseases. For example, if both parents are carriers of the recessive gene of Cystic Fibrosis then the child would likely have this genetic disease. IVF helps with eliminating diseases by altering the DNA of the embryos scientists would implant into patients. This could help the quality of life for many future children born. This could lead to an increase in our population rates because the death rate will be decreasing due to the lack of these diseases. The technology of in vitro fertilization is the most successful form of altered pregnancies, and also carries a safe record (Van Voorhis 2007). Hence, IVF could lead to many advantages in our society.
In vitro fertilization does bring up multiple ethical concerns in today's world. Designer babies are the main ethical concern with IVF. This is the concept of babies being created to be perfect humans. Some people are scared that the researchers in IVF are going to start using this technology to create attractive and intelligent humans to benefit themselves. Designer babies may cause dilemmas within society, and mess with the evolutionary standard of the human race. The creation of designer babies would only be available to the rich because IVF is expensive. The average cost is about $12,000 per attempt, and that is without medications, which could also be costly (Banerjee 2006). This cost is creating an immense divide between the rich and the poor.
This process can also lead to negative effects on the children produced. IVF has been linked to premature birth, low birth weight, congenital birth defects, and minor problems in brain development. These issues could lead to life or death situations in a child right after birth. In a study done, out of 4,795 babies born using IVF, 3,463 had birth defects. When these statistics were compared to babies that were normally conceived, it was proven that babies born through IVF are 1.25 times more likely to develop these conditions (Navarro 2016). Another ethical concern presented with IVF is people are trying to undermine “God†(Guest 2016). This means that the conception is unnatural, and some believe that this technology does not follow God’s plan. They feel that if someone is infertile then God wanted it to be that way. So this could create some religious divides in society. That is because all religions have different beliefs on the subject. Therefore, in vitro fertilization brings up some ethical issues in society.
Analysis and Discussion:
I feel that this technology should be supported, and research should occur to make it more readily available. In vitro fertilization could help people fulfill their dreams of becoming parents. I believe it would bring more benefits than disadvantages to society. I strongly believe in eradicating harmful diseases from children's lives. The idea that science can improve the quality of life for so many future people is unbelievable. I value that these benefits outweigh the drawback of the potential birth defects. We should encourage it because of the potential it could be. I feel that researchers should work on improving IVF to help reduce the price, so that a greater population of people may use this extraordinary technology.
I also believe that research on in vitro fertilization should not start creating designer babies. There should be laws in place to make sure that designer babies do not occur. If they were created, it could throw off political factors and lead to many global issues, economically and socially. I do not personally believe in taking advantage of the technology to make “intelligent†and “attractive†humans. I believe that appearance and intelligence levels should not matter. Designer babies could ruin society as a whole and end up creating a dystopian world that we are afraid of. Therefore, I believe that research should be pursued on IVF to try and make it less expensive and that laws should be in place to stop the production of designer babies from ever occurring.
Conclusion:
Therefore, in vitro fertilization connects to the technology and family chapters in Social Science: An Introduction to the Study of Society by Hunt and Colander. That is because this technology has the potential to shape our economy and society. It could also shape the way we see a family’s in the near future. I personally believe that the technology of in vitro fertilization should be a pursued area of research for reasons that would better society such as helping to eliminate genetic diseases, and to help give the gift of life; however, it should not be used for the creation of designer babies. This technology has the ability to change the future and create a better society than we currently live in. The potential that IVF is too great to ignore. Therefore, I think the benefits outweigh the ethical concerns and that this technology has the potential to be a substantial help to society.