Fertilization of Human Eggs in Vitro: A Defense

The widespread debates arising from medical advances have become a famil­ iar aspect of contemporary society, and the clinical application of man's in­ creasing control over his physiological and biochemical systems is bound to stimulate further controversy. This review is concerned with the current de­ bate on one of these novel advances-the fertilization of human oocytes in vitro, and their reimplantation as cleaving embryos in the uterus of the mother. The attitudes expressed here on social and ethical values will obvi­ ously reflect the viewpoint of the writer, a scientist engaged in initiating and continuing the research and its clinical application .... Doctors, and occasionally scientists, are faced with decisions about the nature and social value of their work. An immediate issue with new clinical methods concerns the ethics of human experimentation, for if patients are to benefit, new methods have to be perfected, often with the collaboration of people unlikely to gain from the research. The impact of human research can obviously be wider than merely affecting patients and doctors, and many of the themes running through debates on fertilization in vitro also arise in connection with abortion, contraception and artificial insemination from a donor (AID). The idea of initiating human life in vitro will probably be unacceptable in principle to some people, even for the cure of infertility. This response is partly emotional and might be modified as the notion becomes more familiar and the benefits clearer, just as previous debates have led to the acceptance of new attitudes towards various other aspects of human reproduc­ tion and sexuality. Certain other well-known concepts stimulating a great deal of discussion concern the moment when human life begins and the "rights" of embryos, fetuses, and neonates, especially those growing in culture .... We will now consider these issues in turn.