Pros And Cons Of Assisted Reproductive Technology

Is Assisted Reproductive technology moral or immoral? The ethical implication of using this technology varies on the individual and there believes of what is right and wrong. Assisted reproductive technology which is also known as ART, allows couples experiencing infertility the opportunity to have a child. There are a variety of different assistive reproductive technology that couples can choose from to conceive a child such as In Vitro Fertilization or Surrogate motherhood. Often times married couples who are unable to conceive naturally seek alternative sources for assistance that offer them the opportunity to have a child; however, their moral belief system might differ from one another making it harder for them to reserve their marriage.
The natural law theory has two main principles one must obey. The principle of totality states that the bodies in which we live in, must be kept as a whole and may be modified only so as to restore it to an appropriately working state. Sarah is in deed trying to modify her body to be able restore it back to its function state and be able to conceive. The second principle, which is the Doctrine of double effect has four different criteria’s that a natural law theorist has to examine. The first criteria states that actions may have a good and bad effect; however, the individual has to only intend the good effect in which Sarah is in deed obeying by trying to reproduce. Also there is no way to get the good effect without the bad effect. Without the assistive reproductive technology, she is not able to conceive on her own so therefore there is no way to get the good effect without the bad effect. Furthermore, the goodness of the good effect must outweigh the badness of the bad effect. Her belief of conceiving outweighs the bad effect of using art, her chances of conceiving is higher then of any harm occurring from the procedure. The last criteria states that the good effect is at least as certain as the
These two main concepts set a foundation to a Kantianism theorist. The principle of of Universalizability which is making right acts that can be applied to everyone which contraindicates the use of In vitro fertilization due to the fact that not everyone in the world is able to conceive such as those who have are infertile. The second principle basically means that one must treat others with respect and to treat others how you would like to be treated. When evaluating the decision of using surrogate as a means of conceiving, this degrades the mother carrying the child as it is often seen as her using the child as means of income. She has lost respect by those who believe that its similar to selling the child. After analyzing the options of using ART, Jim has decided that surrogate and IVF is considered immoral and the only option that is available to him without breaking his moral belief is adoption. Adoption is accepted under the Kantianism theory since it something everyone can adopt and the family adopts a child who has been neglected by others and is now making that child a part of their family and respecting and taking care of him/her as if it were there own which in fact satisfies the second principle of a Kantianism