Seven years ago in the pages of this journal, in an article entitled “Making Babies-the New Biology and the ‘Old’ Morality” (Number 26, Winter 1972), I explored some of the moral a
Children have an absolute right to be loved by their genetic parents and a strong prima facie right to be raised by them. This is because genetic parents, by virtue of their geneti
Indeed, the Scriptures tell us that “by their fruits you shall know them,” and on the whole the “fruits” of the new reproductive technologies seem to be happy husbands and wives de
The ethics of parenthood and procreation apply not only to daily acts of decision-making by parents and prospective procreators, but also to law, public policy, and medicine. Two r
Reproductive technologies serve three purposes: they allow women to have sex without having children; they enable individuals and couples who could not otherwise do so to have biol
The ethics of reproduction is concerned with outlining and critically analysing the moral pitfalls and opportunities surrounding reproductive decision-making by prospective parents
When he presents the heart of his redemptive mission, Jesus says: "I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly" (Jn 10:10). In truth, he is referring to that "new" and "
The transmission of human life is a most serious role in which married people collaborate freely and responsibly with God the Creator. It has always been a source of great joy to t
At their most basic the ‘facts of life’ so far as human beings are concerned are that reproduction is achieved through sexual intercourse in which male and female gametes (sperm and ova, respectively) are fused to produce a zygote which then develops into an embryo and then a foetus, leading to birth. Until quite recently sexual intercourse was the only means of human reproduction. In the 1970s, however, techniques were developed to combine human sperm and ova not within the body (‘in vivo’) but outside of in a test tube (‘in vitro’) resulting in the birth in 1978 of the first ‘test tube baby’. Ethically, In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) raises a number of questions. First, the means by which sperm and ova are acquired and combined, even from marital partners, disconnects this from sexual intercourse which has traditionally been seen as an expression of interpersonal commitment and intimacy. Second, issues of infertility on the part of one or other partner has led to the harvesting and use of ova and sperm from strangers, which as well as breaking the bonds of intimacy raises questions about parental rights and responsibilities, and on the part of children produced in the is way of their ‘identity’.