ASSISTED REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGY AND EGG DONATION: A BIOETHICAL ANALYSIS

Abstract

In this thesis, I aim to analyze the ethical implications of assisted reproductive technology with an emphasis on egg donation. First, I introduce assisted reproductive technology providing a comprehensive background on the history and process of ART procedures. I then present the usage of ART in the US with data collected from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and presented in the 2015 ART National Report. Next I discuss the societal impacts and bioethical implications of ART, specifically egg donation and oocyte cryopreservation, focusing on the ‘Egg industry’ and company sponsored oocyte cryopreservation. Finally, I analyze ART and egg donation using ethical principles including the four medical or bioethical principles as well as the utilitarian principle. As this is a literature review, conclusions drawn from the report are objective and based on suggestions and analyses stated in the literature. From the existing literature on ART and its societal and individual implications, aspects of ART try ethical principles, nevertheless, do indeed have positive effects on individuals and society as well. The most detrimental implications, per literature consensus, stem from the lack of regulation in the donation industry and the absence of rigid consent policies and procedures for donors.