Current ethical dilemmas in assisted reproduction

Abstract

Assisted reproduction in general is replete with ethical issues, either revolving around the status of the embryo or the possible conflict between the duty of care to prospective parents, and the responsibility of the carer to the potential offspring; duties to intermediaries in gamete donation are yet another dimension, which may wane in view of the more recent technique of ICSI, a radical transformation in the treatment of male infertility. Specific problems relating to andrology are analysed within the larger context of different ethical theories.