Where to Draw the Line: A Commentary on the Usage of In Vitro Fertilization (Individual Project)

2013-14349

Monica Tricia L. Rivera

The comic depicts a couple discussing what they’re going to use In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) for. At first, they only want to use it as a means of conceiving a child despite infertility. Afterwards, they realize that they can also use it for disease prevention and traits selection, such as sex and eye color.

This can be likened to the history of IVF. At the beginning, IVF was only used to help couples with infertility. However, with the dawn of preimplantation genetic diagnosis, it has become possible to select embryos according to desired traits.   This has raised many moral contentions. Should IVF be only used for infertility, or also for disease prevention? Is it unethical to use IVF for reasons unrelated to health? (Ly, 2013).

Where should the line be drawn? This is what the comic above explores.

Reference:

Ly, Sarah, 2013. Ethics of Designer Babies. The Embryo Project Encyclopedia.

http://embryo.asu.edu/pages/ethics-designer-babies/. March 8, 2014.