Is In-Vitro Fertilization for Older Women Ethical? a personal perspective

Abstract

Fertility treatments raise a range of social and ethical issues regarding self-identity for family, sexual intimacy, and the interests and welfare of potential children. Eggs and sperm are combined to produce fertilized eggs. These eggs are then implanted as embryos and grow into viable fetuses, which are carried by the original mother or a surrogate mother. This artificial form of conception can challenge religious values and family structures. In-vitro fertilization (IVF) can be considered either as a medical miracle or playing with divinity. What obligation do medical professionals have to infertile women and to what extent? The bioethical dilemma of IVF use encompasses different moral issues for all involved in the process. Ethical issues address respect for personal autonomy, access and care, and the duty of the health care provider to be compassionate to persons whose actions and moral values may be different from their own. Health care providers need to impart empathy, understanding and sensitivity towards this unique type of patient population. The conflict for those treating patients who are trying to conceive by IVF includes respect for personal autonomy, nonmaleficence, justice, utility and the ethics of care. As a registered nurse in a postpartum hospital unit, I have seen antepartum and postpartum women involved with this new technology. I have worked with mothers and their partners as they experience different levels of anxiety and hope for the future. There is an underlying psychosocial connection with patients who undergo IVF treatments. The purpose of this article is to explore the ethical use of IVF on older women. Is this type of biotechnolgy being applied for the right reasons and for the best patient population?

The “graying” of infertility services: an impending revolution nobody is ready for

“…Whether older women should be afforded a chance of conceiving is also a question with significant legal and ethical dimensions. Achieving motherhood represents fulfillment of a most basic human need (Perla L [ 64 ]; Smajdor A, [ 65 ]). Not to consider this fact, even in associations with cost-effectiveness considerations, therefore, appears inhumane.…”

“…Like other patients, older women are entitled to ethical treatment, including autonomy (of decision making), beneficence, non-maleficence and justice. A number of ethicists have addressed the desire of older women to conceive: Perla, emphasizes respect for personal patient autonomy and staff empathy [ 64 ]. Smajdor notes that, with IVF representing medical treatment, it would be unethical to use it as a means of social control, providing or withholding it on basis of moral judgments about a patient’s values or her lifestyle [ 65 ].…”