Chapter 9: Ethical Challenges in Reproductive Technology

ANS: D
Correct D: All of the above must be considered. Preterm infants have many complications, requiring a multitude of often aggressive interventions. The risks and benefits to the child, the child’s comfort level, and the stress on the parents must all be considered. The health care team should engage in a collaborative process with the parents and consider alternative approaches to ethical challenges that build on relationships of trust and care, rather than simply focusing on the parents’ autonomy.

Incorrect A: All of the above must be considered. Preterm infants have many complications, requiring a multitude of often aggressive interventions. The risks and benefits to the child, the child’s comfort level, and the stress on the parents must all be considered. The health care team should engage in a collaborative process with the parents and consider alternative approaches to ethical challenges that build on relationships of trust and care, rather than simply focusing on the parents’ autonomy.

Incorrect B: All of the above must be considered. Preterm infants have many complications, requiring a multitude of often aggressive interventions. The risks and benefits to the child, the child’s comfort level, and the stress on the parents must all be considered. The health care team should engage in a collaborative process with the parents and consider alternative approaches to ethical challenges that build on relationships of trust and care, rather than simply focusing on the parents’ autonomy.

Incorrect C: All of the above must be considered. Preterm infants have many complications, requiring a multitude of often aggressive interventions. The risks and benefits to the child, the child’s comfort level, and the stress on the parents must all be considered. The health care team should engage in a collaborative process with the parents and consider alternative approaches to ethical challenges that build on relationships of trust and care, rather than simply focusing on the parents’ autonomy.

ANS: B
Correct B: Birth control, ultrasound, and Caesarian sections may conflict with the values of some people, but are all generally accepted as ethical practices. Defining infertility as a medical condition, as opposed to a social condition, is an ethical debate. Classifying infertility as a disease requiring medical solutions (e.g., fertility treatments) would open the door for reproductive technologies to be publicly funded.

Incorrect A: Birth control may conflict with the values of some people, but it is generally accepted as an ethical practice.

Incorrect C: Caesarian sections may conflict with the values of some people, but they are generally accepted as an ethical practice.

Incorrect D: Ultrasounds may conflict with the values of some people, but they are generally accepted as an ethical practice.

ANS: D
Correct D: The strongest argument against egg donation is the ethical issue that there is the potential for abuse of the system, including the commodification of women’s reproduction. Presently in Canada, the sale of human tissue or body parts, including eggs, is illegal.

Incorrect A: The donor is usually younger than the recipient, but this is not the concern.

Incorrect B: Ovarian stimulation may be an ethical issue for some, but this is not the greatest concern.

Incorrect C: The anonymity of the donors may pose an ethical dilemma to some individuals, but this is not the greatest concern.

ANS: D
Correct D: The principle of free and informed consent must be promoted and applied as a fundamental condition of the use of human reproductive technologies.

Incorrect A: The health and well-being of the child must be given the greatest priority.
Incorrect B: Women are at greater risk from the possible negative effects of reproductive technology.
Incorrect C: Storage time limits for embryos vary by cryopreservation program.

ANS: D
Correct D: The ability to give informed consent depends upon the child’s age and maturity level. Obtaining the child’s agreement to the procedure may be challenging because young children may be uncomfortable with or not completely understand the discussion surrounding it.

Incorrect A: Masturbation may be a taboo in some families or cultures, but this is not the most significant ethical issue.

Incorrect B: Grafting ovarian tissue into tissue in the forearm is one method of egg preservation.

Incorrect C: There is the possibility of death in any situation, so this does not present a significant ethical issue.

ANS: B
Correct B: The intention of reproductive technology is to give couples or individuals the right to reproductive choice, but some feminists are concerned that, in practice, the actual control will belong to the male-dominated medical profession.

Incorrect A: Women are at greater risk from the possible negative effects of reproductive technology.

Incorrect C: In the feminist view, the control should rest with the individuals and couples who benefit from the right to reproductive choice as a result of these technologies.

Incorrect D: In the feminist view, both singles and couples, including same-sex couples, have the right to pursue reproductive technology.

ANS: F
Correct: Predictive testing may increase the opportunity for related ethical issues, including the child’s right to privacy and confidentiality, the ability of the parents to demand testing for their child, and who should have a say when genetic information will have implications for other individuals.

ANS: F
Correct: Autologous transplants do not pose an ethical dilemma. There is controversy around transplanting stem cells from human embryos because it is feared that embryonic stem cell research and utilization could lead to the creation of embryos in order to harvest their stem cells for transplant into other people

ANS: F
Correct: Retrieval of sperm or eggs from cadavers is prohibited, regardless of consent.

ANS: F
Correct: Previously, a relative marker for viability was 26 weeks of gestation, but there is now debate with respect to the “unknown zone” between 22 and 25 weeks of gestation. For extremely preterm infants (less than 26 weeks), it is unclear whether resuscitation or comfort care is the best option.

ANS: T
Correct: This is how the Assisted Human Reproduction Act defines a fetus. During the first 56 days of its development, the organism is known as an embryo.