Читать книгу Bioethics - Группа авторов - Страница 146

In the previous sections, two main questions have remained unaddressed. One question is on the value and meaning of genetic parenthood. Another, albeit related, question concerns the ethics of existing alternatives. I explore these two questions in this last section and conclude that they provide at least some prima facie moral reasons for carefully considering the introduction of a new reproductive option when similar options are already available.

A peculiar feature of assisted reproductive technologies such as PGD, and possibly genome editing, is that they are often offered to prospective parents who are affected by a genetic condition in order to conceive (or increase their chances of conceiving) healthy offspring. It is in this sense that these technologies represent a solution for those prospective parents whose problem is the impossibility of having a genetically related and healthy child; or at least healthier than the child that would otherwise be brought into the world had these technologies not be employed. As explained in the first section of this paper, there are other options than PGD to increase the chances of having healthy children, but they entail refraining from having genetically related children (for one individual in the couple or, in the case of adoption, both parties). Reproductive technologies such as PGD and genome editing convey the interests of different groups: the prospective parents, the future offspring and the society where these offspring will grow and thrive. Despite the importance of all three stakeholders, their interests are not granted equal importance: the welfare of future children and the reproductive autonomy of the prospective parents are usually considered of greater moral importance than the aggregate interests of society in having healthy members, respecting competing values on assisted reproduction, and limiting the use of certain technologies against a backdrop of scarce resources. This is what I define as the received view on the ethics of assisted reproductive technologies. An ethical assessment of whether introducing new technologies in the context of reproduction should thus consider these three aspects (with the aforementioned prioritisation in mind) in turn.