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Bioscience Trends Sep 2023China's birth rates hit a record low in 2021. The high demand for having children has spawned a massive market for surrogacy, which, however, is a dilemma in China...
China's birth rates hit a record low in 2021. The high demand for having children has spawned a massive market for surrogacy, which, however, is a dilemma in China involving a series of moral and legal issues under the current circumstances. First, special populations, including infertile patients, families who have lost their sole child, and homosexuals, wanted to have children, giving rise to surrogacy. Then, the development of and innovation in assisted reproductive technology allowed surrogacy to mature. A high return offsets a high risk, and consequently, an underground surrogacy market has emerged, causing various social issues for the Chinese Government, such as civil disputes, gender disproportion, crime, and the spread of disease. At the same time, surrogacy violates moral ethics, traditional Chinese culture, and the rights and interests of vulnerable groups.
Topics: Female; Child; Pregnancy; Humans; Surrogate Mothers; Reproductive Techniques, Assisted; China
PubMed: 37081669
DOI: 10.5582/bst.2022.01263 -
European Journal of Obstetrics,... May 2022Recently, a technique of assisted reproduction was developed to allow lesbian women to share biological motherhood of their offspring - the ROPA method (in Spanish -... (Review)
Review
Recently, a technique of assisted reproduction was developed to allow lesbian women to share biological motherhood of their offspring - the ROPA method (in Spanish - Recepción de Ovocitos de Pareja; in English - Reception of Partner's Oocytes), also known as lesbian shared in vitro fertilization. One mother provides the oocytes (genetic mother) and the other receives the embryo and gets pregnant (gestational mother). As for most issues related to medically assisted reproduction, this technique raises a lot of ethical questions in respect to patients, future offspring, gametes, and embryos. Furthermore, the fact that it is directed to homosexual women poses its own issues, both biological and social in nature. This is a state-of-the-art review of the main ethical dilemmas related to this technique, primarily focusing on the basic principles of bioethics, but also specific concerns directly related to this kind of treatments.
Topics: Female; Fertilization in Vitro; Humans; Mothers; Oocytes; Pregnancy; Sexual and Gender Minorities; Surrogate Mothers
PubMed: 35397373
DOI: 10.1016/j.ejogrb.2022.03.046 -
Bioethics Nov 2020Some commentators maintain that gestational surrogates are not 'mothers' in a way capable of grounding a claim to motherhood. These commentators find that the practices...
Some commentators maintain that gestational surrogates are not 'mothers' in a way capable of grounding a claim to motherhood. These commentators find that the practices that constitute motherhood do not extend to gestational surrogates. We argue that gestational surrogates should be construed as mothers of the children they bear, even if they fully intend to surrender those children at birth to the care of others. These women stand in a certain relationship to the expected children: they live in changed moral circumstances by reason of their pregnancy, and they engage in the practices said to define motherhood in the post-birth context. By contrast, ovum donors and embryo donors are not similarly 'mothers' because they do not find themselves involved in these circumstances. Not all women involved in three-parent in vitro fertilization qualify as mothers either. Given this analysis of mothering, we note that transmen who gestate children are engaged in mothering activity even if they otherwise function as a father to those children. By itself, this defence of the maternity of gestational surrogates does not confer moral title to the children they bear; gestation would not by itself override the contractual arrangements gestational surrogates have made regarding the disposition of their children. This interpretation of gestational surrogates as mothers does, however, undercut cultural understandings of these women as mere 'vessels', devoid of entitlement to respect as persons and parents. We also consider the meaning of mothering for 'brain-dead' women kept alive to give birth and for the prospect of extracorporeal gestation.
Topics: Child; Female; Fertilization in Vitro; Humans; Infant, Newborn; Mothers; Pregnancy; Surrogate Mothers
PubMed: 32964490
DOI: 10.1111/bioe.12808 -
Neonatal Network : NN Jan 2018Assistive reproductive technology has progressed significantly over the past few decades. In spite of the advances, people may still resort to a surrogate for bearing...
Assistive reproductive technology has progressed significantly over the past few decades. In spite of the advances, people may still resort to a surrogate for bearing and birthing a baby. Surrogacy, though an altruistic act, has been commercialized in the past few years, leading to emergence of several ethico-legal concerns. Nurses care for the surrogates, the infants, and the intended parents through their journey with sensitivity, advocacy, compassion, and confidentiality. This article intends to explore the implications of surrogacy to individuals, families, nations, and health care.
Topics: Adult; Attitude of Health Personnel; Female; Humans; Interpersonal Relations; Male; Middle Aged; Neonatal Nursing; Nursing Staff, Hospital; Parenting; Parents; Pregnancy; Surrogate Mothers
PubMed: 29436354
DOI: 10.1891/0730-0832.37.1.19 -
Journal of Law and Medicine Dec 2015This editorial begins by illuminating current conversations regarding the regulation of commercial surrogacy in Australia. It defines "commercial surrogacy" and explains...
This editorial begins by illuminating current conversations regarding the regulation of commercial surrogacy in Australia. It defines "commercial surrogacy" and explains the interaction between changes in social attitudes and changes to the law before setting out the current Australian law and practice in this area. An examination of current domestic law and practice reveals that surrogacy legislation in Australia is mired in inconsistencies and a lack of uniformity but that the one key common element is the prohibition of commercial surrogacy. The inability of couples to access commercial surrogacy within Australia has led to offshore reproductive tourism and unpredictable, contradictory decision-making as the Family Court attempts to apply legislation which was never intended to apply in this context. The editorial then turns to consider the international arena, discussing the approach of the Hague Conference on Private International Law before delving into a human rights analysis of commercial surrogacy arrangements. The adoption of a rights-based approach requires an analysis of this vexed issue from the perspective of the child, surrogate and intending parents. While questions surrounding the human rights implications of legalising commercial surrogacy continue to be the subject of passionate debate, the authors believe that the human rights of all parties are best protected through appropriate regulation rather than absolute prohibition.
Topics: Australia; Commerce; Female; Human Rights; Humans; Pregnancy; Surrogate Mothers
PubMed: 26939494
DOI: No ID Found -
European Journal of Health Law Oct 2023In the sphere of new modalities of creating offspring, one of the most controversial issues is related to surrogacy because it opens the space to unforeseeable ethical,...
In the sphere of new modalities of creating offspring, one of the most controversial issues is related to surrogacy because it opens the space to unforeseeable ethical, legal, sociological and psychological world of dilemmas. Surrogacy is the process whereby a woman carries and gives birth to a baby for a couple who cannot conceive naturally and it has become increasingly popular worldwide. This reproductive method relativized the biological fact of birth and denied the central moment in identifying motherhood, expressed in the ancient Roman proverb that the mother of a child is the woman who gave birth to it. Surrogate motherhood changes the notion of motherhood as it separates the natural functions of a woman as a mother, or it separates the genetic from the gestational motherhood. In such a situation, the biological riddle is: Who is the real mother of the child: the one who gives the genetic material or the one who gives birth to it? The answer to this question opens many moral and ethical dilemmas in complex relationships: the surrogate mother, the couple-clients and the child. As the successful medical practice of giving birth to another undeniably exists in different countries of the world, the further fate of this method of reproduction will significantly depend on ethical justifications.
Topics: Child; Female; Humans; Pregnancy; Surrogate Mothers; Morals
PubMed: 38382555
DOI: 10.1163/15718093-bja10115 -
Asian Bioethics Review Oct 2022Shi'i jurists have three different theories with regard to gestational surrogacy and who should be recognized as the mother of the newborn: (1) the surrogate mother (2)...
Shi'i jurists have three different theories with regard to gestational surrogacy and who should be recognized as the mother of the newborn: (1) the surrogate mother (2) or the ovum provider (biological mother) (3) or both of them. The religious law () regarding the title of 'mother' and issues such as inheritance, will (), marriage, and custody have been discussed by Shi'i jurists but no exact definition of this term has been provided by them. Because the fertilized ovum is considered the origin of humans and the formation of an embryo also determines the kinship of the newborn, the mother of the child is the woman that fetus created by her ovum. It is this woman who has all the rights and responsibilities of a mother; even if the surrogate mother is considered the mother of the child, she has no rights over the child nor does she have any duties towards him/her.
PubMed: 36203710
DOI: 10.1007/s41649-022-00217-2 -
Journal of Human Reproductive Sciences 2018Surrogacy is an important method of assisted reproductive technology wherein a woman carries pregnancy for another couple. Number of couples around the world require... (Review)
Review
Surrogacy is an important method of assisted reproductive technology wherein a woman carries pregnancy for another couple. Number of couples around the world require surrogacy services for various reasons. Although this arrangement seems to be beneficial for all parties concerned, there are complex social, ethical, moral, and legal issues associated with it. It is these complexities that have made this practice unpopular in many parts of the world. Surrogacy in India has had its own journey from India becoming popular as a surrogacy center since 2002 to the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016, which would restrict the option of surrogacy for many. Surrogacy is an important medical service for all those couples who would otherwise not have been able to produce a child. Surrogacy would be practiced harmoniously if delicate issues associated with surrogacy will be addressed properly through appropriately framed laws which would protect the rights of surrogate mothers, intended parents, and child born through surrogacy.
PubMed: 30568349
DOI: 10.4103/jhrs.JHRS_138_17 -
Journal of Advanced Nursing Jan 2017The aim of this study was to report an analysis of the concept of pediatric feeding problems. (Review)
Review
AIM
The aim of this study was to report an analysis of the concept of pediatric feeding problems.
BACKGROUND
Reviews of the literature on pediatric feeding problems and disorders repeatedly reference the lack of a shared conceptualization of feeding problems. It is difficult to track aetiology, prevalence and incidence of a phenomenon when available definitions and diagnoses lack practical utility.
DESIGN
An evolutionary concept analysis.
DATA SOURCES
A search was conducted in October 2014 of Google Scholar, CINAHL, PubMed and Web of Science databases, with MeSH terms and key words including: failure to thrive, feeding disorder/difficulty/problems, infantile anorexia, oral aversion, mealtime behaviour and dysphagia. Inclusion criteria were: subject of feeding problems, index children 0-10 years of age, English language and full text.
METHODS
The articles (n = 266) were sorted into disciplines of authorship, including Psychology, Medicine, Nursing, Nutrition, Occupational Therapy, Speech Language Pathology or Other. The sample was divided into a historical sample (n = 42) for pre-2000 articles and current for those published post-2000. The current sample was later reduced to 100 and coded for surrogate terms, related concepts, attributes, antecedents and consequences.
RESULTS
The historical view of pediatric feeding problems shows a tradition of mother blame or parental culpability, both direct and indirect. Currently, there exist many different definitions and typologies, but none have sound validity or generalizability. Areas of attribute consensus across disciplines are problematic feeding behaviours and selective or restrictive intake.
CONCLUSION
A spectrum conceptualization of feeding problems is suggested for further development, with attributes that would be critical to have a feeding problem.
Topics: Child, Preschool; Feeding Behavior; Feeding Methods; Feeding and Eating Disorders of Childhood; Female; Humans; Incidence; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Male; Mother-Child Relations; Mothers; Prevalence
PubMed: 27601073
DOI: 10.1111/jan.13140 -
Reproductive Biomedicine Online Oct 2022This review reports on the experiences of surrogates and intended parents of surrogacy arrangements. The findings from 47 studies, conducted across 12 countries and... (Review)
Review
This review reports on the experiences of surrogates and intended parents of surrogacy arrangements. The findings from 47 studies, conducted across 12 countries and investigating predominately gestational surrogacy in a commercial setting, were analysed thematically, and are reported in a narrative summary. The findings reveal that the experiences of both parties of surrogacy arrangements are largely satisfactory and frequently involve positive relationships forming between one another, which they hope to maintain after birth. Some surrogacy participants experience challenges, particularly when the surrogate and intended parents reside in different countries. Intended parents face legal hurdles when returning home after an international arrangement. Concerningly, multiple reports of clinical practices in India have been published, in which commercial surrogacy was accessed by foreign intended parents, which infringed on surrogates' autonomy during the pregnancy. Intended parents turn to these international destinations when they face barriers to accessing surrogacy in their home country, such as the prohibition of commercial surrogacy. Looking beyond the altruistic and commercial dichotomy may alleviate some of the barriers to domestic surrogacy. Collaboration between professional fertility organizations to develop best practice guidelines can support clinics in providing international surrogacy services that minimize the risk of harm to those accessing care.
Topics: Altruism; Female; Humans; Pregnancy; Surrogate Mothers
PubMed: 35909052
DOI: 10.1016/j.rbmo.2022.06.006