Assisted reproduction: social and ethical issues

Question 1

Fertility problems

Answer 1

Inability of a woman of child bearing age to become pregnant after specified period of attempting to conceive

Repeated loss of pregnancy due to miscarriage

Loss of ability to conceive due to previous medical treatments

Inability to conceive due to age of woman

Question 2

Arguing against disease model of infertility

Answer 2

Diseases cause physical or psychological discomfort or reduce one’s projected lifespan

Not being able to reproduce may cause distress as a result of either

• a woman’s inability to experience pregnancy and childbirth
• the inability to conform to the social norm of reproducing

Question 3

Basics of IVF

Answer 3

The woman is given hormone treatments to stimulate egg production

Multiple eggs are taken from the woman’s ovaries

In the lab, the eggs are mixed with the man’s sperm cells in a culture dish to become fertilised

The fertilised eggs are placed in an incubator for about 48 hours

Embryos are implanted in the woman’s uterus or frozen for future implanting

Question 4

NICE recommendations for IVF

Answer 4

NHS should offer 3 cycles of IVF to women aged between 23-39 who have an identified cause of their infertility problems or unexplained infertility for three years