In Vitro Fertilization Essay

Bio-Ethics In vitro fertilization

Edward and Chad are a homosexual couple that have been married for two years. Before they got married they both understood that they would not be able to have children, but they had hopes that one day there would be new technology that could make their dream possible. A whole year passed with no new news from their doctor, but a month later they got excellent news that brought on a renewed sense of faith. The next day Ed and Chad sat down with their doctor as he explained an avant-garde technology called IVF. Though the advancement had a high chance of not being successful and being very costly, Ed and Chad were willing to try anything.
In vitro fertilization, or IVF, is a relatively new process of fertilization that combines a sperm and egg cell in a lab dish. Depending on whether eggs or sperm are needed to produce a child, there will be a need for a donor or a surrogate. Because Ed and Chad are both male they will need a surrogate mother to carry the child during the pregnancy and either Ed or Chad will need to donate sperm. As step one, a mother or surrogate mother will need to take medications during ovulation to produce more eggs than usual. More eggs are needed because some eggs will not fertilize after they are taken out. In order for eggs to be retrieved for fertilization mothers will have to undergo follicular aspiration. Follicular aspiration is a procedure that uses a hollow glass needle to retrieve eggs. Once sperm is donated it can be combined with the egg to fertilize in a process called insemination. Sometimes intracytoplasmic sperm injection, or ICSI, may be used to combine the gametes. Doctors make sure the cells undergo fertilization and cell division once those are determined complete they are considered embryos. One to six days later the embryos are implanted back into the mother’s uterus so they can develop naturally.
The obvious benefit for in vitro fertilization is being able to have a biological child under different circumstances than the usual. A couple that may not be able to produce a child due to lack of eggs from the mother or sperm of the father, or even a mother who has very narrow fallopian tubes, could have a child by injecting the fertilized embryo back into the mother’s uterus. In Ed and Chad’s case they could have a biological child by injecting fertilized embryos into a surrogate mother’s uterus. In recent years, IVF has begun not only to be used as a last resort for having a child, but as Plan A. Couples who might feel that they are getting too old may want a child before a certain age and believe IVF is a faster way to have a child than natural conception. That is true, IVF is a faster method and if the couple is younger, there is a better chance for the procedure to be successful.
Though there are multiple benefits to in vitro fertilization, there are also ethical concerns and drawbacks that may alter a couples’ decision on whether they want to follow through with the process. Apart from being highly expensive and having a great chance of failing, individuals and society have found some ethical concerns with IVF. The dominant concerns are

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