blog.bioethics.net
a Nature Top 50 science blog from The American Journal of Bioethics
Entries from blog.bioethics.net tagged with 'reproductive technology'
Perhaps Now You'd Prefer That Your Bioethics "Sound Bites" Come From Academics? Or Would You Prefer Octomom.
In truly unbelievable video from CNN.com today, "Octomom" Nadya Suleman weepily admits to only thinking of "the now" and "saving those 8 embryos when the made the decision to have her octuplets and confesses to realizing that she has "screwed up" her other two children. Embedded video from CNN Video... (read the rest)
My Mommy Is My Daddy Is My Mommy
Stem cell research has the potential to change the standard gendered parental relationships by making it possible for women to produce sperm and eggs from stem cells say British researchers in the Globe and Mail. Better yet, a new Canadian "mockumentary" called The Baby Formula brings to the public's attention... (read the rest)
Cultural Sex Selection: No Harm, No Foul?
Emily Willingham asks an important question as to whether the apparent cultural preference toward having a male child in the family among Asian-Americans represents a harm--either to Asian-American girls, or simply to women generally. I'm inclined to think the latter. But we'll let you decide: A New York Times story... (read the rest)
Want a "Perfect Baby"? You're Gonna Have To Make It The Old-Fashioned Way.
That's right, Fertility Institutes in Los Angeles, who announced last month that they would be offering PGD for eye and hair color and other cosmetic traits, has now announced via their website that they are backing off of their plans, says Fox News. Some say due to ethical criticism, other... (read the rest)
Art Caplan Video: "Designer Babies" Ethical?
Well, Art Caplan clearly disagrees with me on two very important things. Last week when I wrote about the Los Angeles fertility clinic that is offering PGD to prospective parents for eye color, hair color, as well as sex selection, I suggested that for traits such as these there is... (read the rest)
I Think Glenn McGee Predicted This Would Happen....
Today, the Wall Street Journal reported that a Los Angeles fertility clinic is offering parents the capacity to choose the traits of their child to allow them to make, um, "The Perfect Baby." The WSJ article, titled "A Baby, Please. Blond, Freckles -- Hold the Colic", describes precisely what McGee... (read the rest)
Don't Blame Momma.
Today from the Philadelphia Inquirer, Arthur Caplan has published an opinion piece on the issue that has all of bioethics (and the entire country) talking: the famous (or infamous) California octuplets. So unless you've been flying in an airplane continuously for the last 96 hours or don't own a television,... (read the rest)
UPDATE: And Baby H Makes 8...No, 14!
As the story over the California octuplets born this week has unraveled, the ethical issues surrounding their birth have expanded beyond those of just the health and welfare of the mother and 8 tiny little fetuses but to questions of social justice and the choice of the mother to have... (read the rest)
And Baby H Makes Eight!
One California mother received the surprise of her life on Monday. As if seven bouncing bundles of joy weren't going to be enough for a new mom to handle at feeding and diaper changing time, but lo and behold, it was announced yesterday morning at the Kaiser Permanente hospital that... (read the rest)
McGee Writes One of The Scientist's Most Controversial Columns of the Year
In an email sent out to The Scientist readers today, an article called "No More Periods-Period" by AJOB's Editor-in-Chief Glenn McGee was noted as one of the most controversial columns of 2008. In this piece, McGee ponders and predicts the end of female menstruation and finds no real fault in... (read the rest)
Who Cares if the Vatican Weighs in on Bioethics?
No one. At least that's my view. Certainly not American Catholics who use birth control, IVF, pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, and a wide range of other reproductive technologies previously and even more so now get a Holy finger wagging from Rome. Moreover, I don't know any American Catholics who oppose the... (read the rest)
The Egg Man
Wesley Smith writes on Second Hand Smoke that there ought to be an outright ban on the a woman's ability to sell her gametes all together--for fertility treatments, stem cell research, or any purpose at all. He makes this claim that paying women $3000 to $7000 per cycle was troublesome,... (read the rest)
Surrogacy without drama
When surrogacy comes up in the media, it's usually within the context of a story about celebrities, outsourced wombs, court cases or comedy. But this past weekend, the Washington Post had the story of a surrogacy gone absolutely, positively... normal. From Brigid Schulte's piece: Fourteen years ago, Kovacic, a married,... (read the rest)
Looking ahead to "artificial" sperm and eggs
The possibility of sperm or eggs being created from pluripotent stem cells has been a hot topic of discussion in Britain over the last few months. The subject's come up as part of the broader debate about the upcoming vote on the UK's Human Fertilisation and Embryology bill. (The Britsh... (read the rest)
Inside the lives of surrogates
Newsweek's cover story this week is about the experiences of women who gestate babies for others. Here's a clip from the piece by Lorraine Ali and Raina Kelley: Very little is understood about the world of the surrogate. That's why we talked to dozens of women across America who are,... (read the rest)
NIH awards Northwestern $21 mil for studying oncofertility
The grant goes to the lab of Teresa Woodruff, who coined the term "oncofertility." From Northwestern's press release: When a woman is diagnosed with cancer, her treatment has a laser-like focus to save her life. But the powerful chemotherapy and radiation that cures cancer or sends it into remission can... (read the rest)
Should I sell my eggs?
Via Art Caplan comes this pointer to a first-person piece by Jill Colvin in the New York Press about egg "donation." Here's a snip: While Julia's repeated donations were beyond anything that I could imagine, as a self-declared feminist, the idea of taking charge of my body was appealing. I... (read the rest)
It's not just the developed world
Last week we referenced an article in The Economist about Japan's struggle in adapting to an aging, shrinking population. There's speculation that Japan's situation is a preview of what many other developed countries will face in the not-to-distant future. That last sentenced should be edited, though, to remove "developed." As... (read the rest)
Choosing to go gray
The most recent issue of The Economist features an interesting article about Japan's struggles in adapting to a population that is both aging and shrinking (average lifespan is now 82 years, fertility rate is 1.32). Firms are scraping to find young workers, farm towns are disappearing, and policy analysts are... (read the rest)
He's having a baby
Jen Graves recently wrote in Seattle's The Stranger about her desire to have a baby with her partner, Patrick -- and she wants Patrick to carry the baby: Sure, Patrick would be a great father, I've always thought. But he'd be an even better mother. Meanwhile, I am career-driven, impatient,... (read the rest)
Worth reading from the weekend
One piece about the genetic present, the other on the genetic future. First, in the NYT Magazine Peggy Orenstein explores the questions and concerns prompted by egg donation: It was weird to look at these pictures with Becky. I inevitably objectified the young women in them, evaluating their component parts;... (read the rest)
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