Advertisement
Research Article| Volume 12, ISSUE 3, P429-448, September 1992

The Technology, Law, and Ethics of in Vitro Fertilization, Gamete Donation, and Surrogate Motherhood

      This paper is only available as a PDF. To read, Please Download here.
      This article examines some of the legal, ethical, and policy issues raised by the development and use of technologies for noncoital reproduction: gamete transfer and manipulation, in vitro fertilization, and zygote transfer and manipulation. After briefly describing these technologies, this article examines three closely related concerns raised by their introduction: (1) the effect of new technologies on the social understanding of parenthood and the legal regulation of the family; (2) the impact on women and children of a market in the material and services for producing children; and (3) the rights and interests involved in conflicts over the control and disposition of extrauterine embryos.
      To read this article in full you will need to make a payment

      Purchase one-time access:

      Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online access
      One-time access price info
      • For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
      • For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'

      Subscribers receive full online access to your subscription and archive of back issues up to and including 2002.

      Content published before 2002 is available via pay-per-view purchase only.

      Subscribe:

      Subscribe to Clinics in Laboratory Medicine
      Already a print subscriber? Claim online access
      Already an online subscriber? Sign in
      Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect

      Notes

      1. US Congress OTA: Infertility: Medical and Social Choices. OTA BA-358, 1988 (8.5%); Frankel MS: Artificial insemination and semen cryobanking: Health and safety concerns. Legal-Med Q 3:93, 1979 (15%)

      2. For more detail on these techniques, see US Congress OTA, op. cit. note 1; Blank RH: Human genetic and reproductive intervention. In Regulating Reproduction. New York, Columbia University Press, p 23; Andrews L: New conceptions: A Consumer’s Guide to the Newest in Fertility Treatments Including Artificial Insemination and Surrogate Mothering. New York, St. Martin’s Press, 1981 (Rev. ed 1985)

        • Weedn V.W.
        Reproductive patients.
        American College of Legal Medicine, Legal Medicine: Legal Dynamics of Medical Encounters. CV Mosby, St. Louis1990: 260
        • For a review of these justifications, see Schoeman F
        Rights of children, rights of parents, and the moral basis of the family.
        Ethics. 1980; 91: 6
      3. See, e.g., LaFollette H: Licensing parents. Philosophy & Public Affairs 9:182,1980; Frisch LE: On licentious licensing: A reply to Hugh LaFollette. Philosophy & Public Affairs 11:173,1982; Kymlicka W: Rethinking the family. Philosophy & Public Affairs 20:77,1991

      4. See, e.g., C.M. v. C.C., 152 NJ Supp. 160, 377 A.2d 821 (1977)

        • See Olsen FE
        The myth of state intervention in the family.
        J Law Reform. 1985; 18: 4
      5. 109 N.J. 396, 537 A.2d 1227 (1988)

      6. US Congress OTA, op. cit. note 1, p 282. The law governing parental obligations and rights is state, not federal law, and much of the state law in this area is “common law” or “case law,” not codified in statutes, but made, cited, and relied upon in judicial decisions.

      7. See US Congress OTA, op. cit. note 1, p 281

        • See Clark H.H.
        The illegitimate child.
        The Law of Domestic Relations. St. Paul, MN, West Publishing Co1968: 155
        • See Comment
        The unwed father’s right in adoption proceedings: A case study and legislative critique.
        Albany Law Rev. 1976; 40: 543
      8. No. 63-31-90 (Orange Cty. Superior Ct. Calif. October 22, 1990)

      9. See Ethics Committee of the American Fertility Society: Ethical considerations in the new reproductive technologies.
        Fertil Steril. 1990; 53 (suppl): 12s
      10. Found in 10 Oklahoma Statutes Supp. 1989, Section 554. (Sec. 8), described in Hass GG: Oklahoma statute on donor oocytes [letter]. Fertil Steril 54:852, 1991

      11. US Congress OTA, op. cit. note 1, p 243 (Table 13-1)

      12. See Weedn VW, op. cit. note 3, p 261

      13. 152 NJ Supp. 160, 377 A.2d 821 (1977)

      14. No. 88SA 289 (Colo. June 22, 1989)

      15. 179 Cal. App. 3d 386, 224 Cal. Rptr. 530 (1986)

      16. 129 Misc. 2d 550, 493 N.Y.S. 2d 404 (1985)

      17. 155 A.D.2d 11, 552 N.Y.S. 2d 321 (1990)

        • Wikler D.
        • Wikler N.J.
        Turkey-baster babies: The demedicalization of artificial insemination.
        Milbank Q. 1991; 69: 1
        • This trend is projected and endorsed in Note
        Looking for a family resemblance: The limits of the functional approach to the legal definition of family.
        Harvard Law Rev. 1991; 104: 1640
      18. Goldstein J, Freud A, Solnit A: Beyond the Best Interests of the Child. New York, Free Press, 1973; see also Bronfenbrenner U: A Report on Longitudinal Evaluation of Preschool Programs, vol 2. Is Early Intervention Effective? Washington, DC, D.H.E.W. Publication No (OHD), 1975, pp 72-75

      19. See notes 38-43 infra

      20. Victor Weedn has noted that the practice of surrogacy may literally conflict with state laws that divest a semen donor of his parental rights and confer those rights on the birth mother, Weedn VW, op. cit. note 3

      21. See Haas [letter], op. cit. note 13

      22. 109 NJ 396, 537 A2.d 1227 (1988)

      23. No. 63-31-90 (Orange Cty. Superior Ct. Calif. October 22, 1990)

      24. John Robertson, quoted in Kolata G: When grandmother is the mother, until birth. New York Times CXL 48(683): All, col. 1, August 5, 1991; Kolder et al: Obstetrical interventions. N Engl J Med 316:1192, 1987

      25. No. 63-31-90 (Orange Cty. Superior Ct. Calif. October 22, 1990)

      26. Andrews L: Between Strangers. New York, Harper & Row, 1989, pp 217-219. The experts consulted by the OTA differed on how the separation of genetic, gestational, and social functions would affect the welfare of children and parents. US Congress OTA, op. cit. note 1, p 209

      27. Quoted in Kolata G, op. cit. note 31

      28. Paraphrased in Kolata G, ibid

      29. A similar concern is discussed in Macklin R: Artificial means of reproduction and our understanding of the family. Hastings Center Report: 6, January-February 1991

      30. For two influential discussions of these issues, see Corea G: The Mother Machine. New York, Harper & Row, 1985; Field M: Surrogate Motherhood: The Legal and Human Issues, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, 1988

      31. Doe v. Kelly, 106 Mich. App. 169, 307 N.W. 2d 438 (1981)

      32. Surrogate Parenting Associates, Inc. v. Commonwealth Ex Rel. Armstrong, 704 S.W. 2d 209 (1986)

      33. 109 NJ 396, 537 A.2d 1227 (1988)

      34. Arizona (1989 Ariz. Sess. Laws 14); Florida (Fla. Stat. Sec. 63.212(1) (1988); Indiana (Individuals. Code Sec. 31-8-2-1 to 31-8-2-3) (1988); Kentucky (Ky. Rev. Stat. Sec. 199.590 (1988); Louisiana (La. Rev. Stat. Ann. Sec. 9:2713) (1987); Michigan (Mich. Comp. Laws, Sec. 722.851-722.863) (1988); Nebraska (Ne. Rev. Stat. 674) (1988); Nevada (Nv. Rev. Stat. 127.303.5) (1987); North Dakota (1989 N.D. Sess. Laws 184); Utah (1989 Utah Laws 140); Washington (1989 Wash. Laws 404)

        • Rothenberg K.H.
        • op. cit., note 36; See
        Gestational surrogacy and the health care provider: Put part of the IVF genie back into the bottle.
        Law, Med Health Care. 1990; 18: 4
      35. Arkansas Statute Sec. 9-10-201; New Hampshire, HB-1426-FN, Chapter 87 (1990); see Rothenberg KH, op. cit. note 42

      36. See Rothenberg KH op. cit. note 40, p 351, n 10

      37. Smith v. Jones, CF 025 653 (Los Angeles Superior Ct. Calif. 1987); Smith & v. Jones & Jones, 85-532014 DZ (Detroit MI, 3d District 9 Mar. 15,1986); see US Congress OTA, op. cit. note 1, pp 284, 290

      38. No. 63-31-90 (Orange Cty. Superior Ct. Calif. October 22, 1990)

        • See Katz-Rothman B.
        Recreating Motherhood: Ideology and Technology in a Patriarchal Society. WW Norton, New York1989
        • E.g.Robertson J.
        Embryos, families and procreative liberty: The legal structure of the new reproduction.
        South Calif Law Rev. 1986; 59: 939
      39. E.g., Corea, G., op. cit. note 36

        • Hill J.L.
        • E.g., Andrews L. op. cit. note 33
        In defense of enforcement of the surrogate contract: A reply to Field.
        Politics Life Sei. 1991; 9: 253
        • E.g.Anderson E.
        Is woman’s labor a commodity?.
        Philosophy Public Affairs. 1990; 19: 75
        • See Raymond J.
        The international traffic in women: Women used in systems of surrogacy and reproduction.
        in: Hynes H.P. Reconstructing Babylon: Essays on women and technology. Indiana University Press, Bloomington, IN1991
      40. See, e.g., Corea G: How the new reproductive technologies will affect all women. In Hynes HP op. cit. note 52

      41. Barbara Katz-Rothman argues that the technology for monitoring and assisting pregnancy —fluoroscopes, sonograms, amniocentesis, CVS, and fetal micro-surgery—has greatly reduced the intimacy and privacy of the maternal-fetal relationship, by making the fetus accessible to the outside world. This, in turn, has encouraged health-care professionals to treat the fetus as the patient, and to neglect the needs of the mother. Katz-Rothman B: op. cit note 47

      42. A similar concern has already been raised about the related medical technology for pre-natal screening. Katz-Rothman has argued that such screening, even for narrow “disease-prevention” purposes, has a subversive effect on the unconditional love of a mother for an intended child. That effect will be even more subversive if screening is used, as it may well be, for more “positive” eugenic purposes. Katz-Rothman B: The tentative pregnancy: Pre-natal diagnosis and the future of motherhood. New York, Viking, 1986

      43. The Repository for Germinal Choice.
        in: See Blank R.H. Regulating Reproduction. Columbia University Press, New York1990
      44. Reported in Newsweek, Feb. 14, 1983, p 76; New York Times, Feb. 6, 1983; Los Angeles Times, Feb. 3, 1983

      45. See Weedn VW, op. cit. note 3

      46. Andrews L, op. cit. note 33, p 250

      47. 410 US 113 (1973)

      48. 38 US 479 (1965)

      49. State v. Merrill, 450 N.W. 2d 318 (1990)

      50. For a general discussion of this issue, see Wachbroit R: Technology’s mixed blessings. Report from the Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy 10(2):6, 1990

      51. Even apart from these complications, the moral significance of potentiality is unclear. See Wasserman D, Strudler A: Persons and potential persons. Report from the Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy 10(2):4, 1990

      52. See US Congress OTA, op. cit. note 1, p 252. Several other states have enacted legislation regulating IVF for reproductive purposes. Pennsylvania requires regular reports from doctors performing IVF, while Louisiana and Florida make it a crime to sell fertilized embryos for any purpose. Broad prohibitions on fetal research in several states may be taken to bar the cryopreservation of “surplus” embryos following IVF. See King PA: Reproductive technologies. In Childress JF, King PA, Rothenberg KE, et al: BioLaw: A Legal and Ethical Reporter, vol I: Resource Manual. Lanham, MD, University Publications of America, 1989, p 165

      53. Illinois Abortion Act of 1977 Sec. 4. See Weedn VW, op. cit. note 3, pp 262-263

        • Court of Appeals of Tennessee
        United States Law Week. 1990; 59: 2205
      54. United States District Court, Southern District of New York, 74 Civ. 3588, 1978

        • See Smith G.P.
        Australia’s frozen “orphan” embryos: A medical, legal and ethical dilemma.
        J Fam Law. 1985; 24: 27
        • Kymlicka W.
        Rethinking the family.
        Philosophy and Public Affairs. 1991; 20 (91-92): 77