Website Report: Ethical and Moral Issues in Posthumous IVF Treatment

This website ethic report examines a case in Israel, considered the world capital of in vitro fertilization (IVF), where the parents of a deceased man seek to use his sperm for IVF treatment. This raises ethical concerns regarding a child being fathered by a dead man, potentially living without paternal care. The report discusses the moral and ethical dilemmas associated with artificial reproduction, surrogacy, and religious beliefs. It highlights the emotional considerations of grandparents wishing to have a child of their son to fill the void left by his death. The report also touches upon the ethical standing of health insurance agencies funding IVF and the potential gender biases if similar procedures were performed on a brain-dead woman. It emphasizes the need for defined laws addressing these issues, promoting gender equality, and ensuring a safe future for children born through such procedures, considering potential health risks and unstable environments. The report concludes by advocating for inclusive, equitable, and justifiable societal frameworks involving government, medical agencies, legislators, researchers, and stakeholders.

Running head: ETHICAL ISSUES
ETHICAL ISSUES
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1ETHICAL ISSUES
This website ethic report describes Israel is considered as the world capital of in vitro
fertilization, performing over 7000 procedures which has united families and restored their
values and faith in their religion (Bassan and Michaelsen 2013). Israeli law imbibes equality of
having a baby through IVF all segments of society including gay, sacred, secular, religious,
Jewish and Arabs also privilege thus equity of having a child is maintained throughout the
country. The website reports is based on an ethical and moral case where a sperm of a dead man
is required by their parents to create a child through an IVF treatment method. This has come to
pose as a major ethical issue because a child will be fathered by a person who is dead and
therefore, will have to live a life without ever hoping to get any care and affection from the real
father.
The ethical issue of having a child from a dead person sperm without his prior consent is
ethical concern for the medical agency, parents, doctors and other person involved in the whole
process. There is also a moral issue associated with the religious beliefs system which is does not
conform the artificial reproduction from a surrogate mother (Twine 2015). The moral and ethical
dilemma to have a child in the womb for the sake of money is a concern therefore countries like
India have a regulated framework for surrogacy and commercial surrogacy is legally prohibited.
Due to the societal structure, bearing the child of someone else is still considered to be
something unique but I agree with the idea of surrogacy. I have considered the emotional
concern of having a child from the same blood which justify the process of IVF babies (Knoche
2014). After losing the son, the grandparents wishes for having a child of their own son has
become important for them as the child will fulfil the emotional void created by the loss of his
son. Due to war many people have lost their family, hence this effort on the part of agency to
inculcate a spirit of belongingness with the state (Deonandan 2015). The grandparents have little

2ETHICAL ISSUES
life left hence should have the privilege to live the last days of their life with the child of their
son. The ethical standing of the health insurance agencies to fund the IVF babies, medical
agencies who have to extract sperm from a coma patient also raises the brow of feminists and
scholars. If similar procedure was done to a women it would have resulted controversies of
sexual assault on a brain dead women. This would have been considered immoral as the gender
biases is rooted in the society. The law would also considered this illegal as it would have raised
the question of exploitation of the body of women who has lost the power of consciousness and
rationalist. The scholars and proponents of feminism would be in ruckus as the consent of the
women is not considered. Thus the need of the time is to understand the prevailing situation and
the need for the future generation. People should be allowed to donate with consent, without any
judgement. There should be a more defined law in the country which addresses the issues and
promotes gender equality in the country. The government should also find more other ways to
promote peace in the war torn regions since there are also medical challenges which can face
these babies. These babies may grow up in an unstable society where war is a usual phenomenon
destroying the vital infrastructure of the country (Crockin 2013). Further, the child will be
lacking a family as these grand parents may not be present when the child reaches his or her
adolescence. The issue of safe future of the child should also be considered by the law agencies.
The recent claims of researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) that babies
undergoing fertility treatments are at increasing risk of cancers mainly the paediatric cancers and
tumours (Deonandan 2015). The ethical dilemma of bring a child to the world whose health is at
immense risk due to his procedure of reproduction should also be assessed before making this
method of reproduction rampant. The government, medical agencies, legislators, researches and

3ETHICAL ISSUES
the associated stake holders should come forward with a more inclusive, equitable, secular and
justifiable society for all with due diligence efforts and deliberation o the issues.
The few words which has not been used are facts and moral agent as these words have
little influence in the context to explain the issue of IVF baby born from the sperm of a brain
dead patient for fulfilling the emotional quotient of the family. Further, these two word does not
contribute in the better understanding of the subject ethically. The concerns here covers a wide
spectrum of authorities and ethical concerns also ranges diversely for which these two words are
avoided and a larger usage of appropriate word is taken to understand the ethical subject.

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References
Bassan, S. and Michaelsen, M.A., 2013. Honeymoon, medical treatment or big business? An
analysis of the meanings of the term “reproductive tourism” in German and Israeli public media
discourses. Philosophy, Ethics, and Humanities in Medicine, 8(1), p.9.
Crockin, S.L., 2013. Growing families in a shrinking world: legal and ethical challenges in cross-
border surrogacy. Reproductive biomedicine online, 27(6), pp.733-741.
Deonandan, R., 2015. Recent trends in reproductive tourism and international surrogacy: ethical
considerations and challenges for policy. Risk management and healthcare policy, 8, p.111.
Knoche, J.W., 2014. Health concerns and ethical considerations regarding international
surrogacy. International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics, 126(2), pp.183-186.
Twine, F.W., 2015. Outsourcing the womb: Race, class and gestational surrogacy in a global
market. Routledge.