Lesbian motherhood and mitochondrial replacement techniques: reproductive freedom and genetic kinship

Abstract

In this paper, we argue that lesbian couples who wish to have children who are genetically related to both of them should be allowed access to mitochondrial replacement techniques (MRTs). First, we provide a brief explanation of mitochondrial diseases and MRTs. We then present the reasons why MRTs are not, by nature, therapeutic. The upshot of the view that MRTs are non-therapeutic techniques is that their therapeutic potential cannot be invoked for restricting their use only to those cases where a mitochondrial DNA disease could be 'cured'. We then argue that a positive case for MRTs is justified by an appeal to reproductive freedom, and that the criteria to access these techniques should hence be extended to include lesbian couples who wish to share genetic parenthood. Finally, we consider a potential objection to our argument: that the desire to have genetically related kin is not a morally sufficient reason to allow lesbian couples to access MRTs.

‘Yes’ to mitochondrial replacement techniques and lesbian motherhood: a reply to Françoise Baylis

“…We argue that if a lesbian couple resorted to an MRT, ‘both mothers would be parents under a causal account of parenthood, at least’ 12. And, that: “[t]he use of MRTs by lesbian couples in fact defies the current dominion of the bionormative family in that it challenges the folk assumption about the correct type and amount of shared genes that are necessary for establishing a parental genetic link” 12.…”

“…The last section of our paper engages with the issue of MRTs and limited resources. There we assert that: “when we argue about the moral permissibility of MRTs, we have to factor in the costs of satisfying this preference , even if it is a strongly held one, against other medical opportunity costs, for example satisfying the basic medical needs of others ” 12. We also argue that the existence of medical opportunity costs does not make MRTs inherently immoral since we still need to show that when compared against other medical research, the use of scarce medical resources for MRTs is unwarranted ii .…”

The importance of ethical expertise

“…The third paper in this issue on MRTs argues a similar thesis to Murphy 10. Cavaliere and Palacios-González note that in the UK, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority permits the use of MRTs when they are used to prevent the transmission of a ‘serious mitochondrial disease’.…”

Moral and Fictional Discourses on Assisted Reproductive Technologies: Current Responses, Future Scenarios

“…Reproductive cloning could also be useful to couples who want to have a biological child but do not have usable gametes ( [15], 503): if a man had no sperm or his sperm was not fit for reproduction, he could still father a child by fertilizing his partner's egg cells with the nuclear DNA of his somatic cell. Furthermore, cloning would allow a lesbian couple to have a child without having to resort to a sperm donor: to create an embryo it would be sufficient to transfer the DNA of one partner into the egg cell of the other ( [16], 7)the child would have the nuclear DNA of the former and the 1 Year after year, we have seen a slow increase not only in the number of species cloned but also the ability to produce embryos via cloning and carry on their development up to birth. Dolly was the only animal born from 277 embryos produced by transferring nucleus DNA (about 0,36%), whilst today the success rate of the interventiondefined as the proportion of transferred embryos that reach birthis around 2-3% for all species considered.…”