Assisted Conception

This title was first published in 2003. Assisted conception is an area where it often seems that all the ethical and legal issues have been covered and then technology advances and the discussions start all over again. The book is an anthology of papers presented during a project looking at thearaputic research in assisted conception (TRAC). It is divided into three areas addressing research, ethics and law. Each chapter begins with an overview of the issues, with the aim being to present new perspectives rather than covering old ground. The European Convention on Human rights and Biomedicine came into force on December 1, 1999. The Convention allows thearaputic research and research on spare embryos but forbid fundamental research, which may be essential to the safe development of new techniques. This also means that people may become part of an experimental process without their consent. The project brings together clinicians, embryologists, lawyers and ethicists to ascertain whether there might be a risk of infertility patients being exposed to insufficiently tested procedures and to see if there is a need for fundamental research in this area. It also looks at the legislative safeguards that exist and whether a European standard for treatment should be set.

Jennifer Gunning

Introduction; 1: Introduction; 1: Research; 2: Overview: Human Embryo Research; 3: Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis; 4: Future Directions in Research on Human Embryos; 2: Ethics; 5: Overview: Ethical Issues; 6: Between Pragmatism and Principles?; 7: Information Disclosure and Consent; 8: The Influence of Pluralism in the Perception of the Status of the Embryo; 9: Human Cloning: The Case of the (Preimplantation) Embryo, an Ethical Exploration; 3: Law; 10: Overview: Legislative Approaches; 11: Legal Approaches: France; 12: The Regulation of Human Embryo Research in the UK: What Implications for Therapeutic Research?; 13: The Role of Ethics Committees in Framing Legislation on Assisted Reproduction and Embryo Research; 14: The Hungarian Legislative Approach to Assisted Procreation: An Attempt at Transparency?; 15: Health Council Report on Embryo Research: Perspectives on New Legislation in the Netherlands; 16: Legal Approaches in Germany; 17: Regulating Reproductive Technologies: Ten Years Down the Tube?; 18: Regulation of Assisted Conception Services: The Need for Technical Standardization