Medically assisted procreation: bioethical issues

Abstract

This paper focuses on the technological advances concerning medically assisted procreation, investigating bioethical dilemmas that arise in this respect. We deepened the various positions on legal and ethical issues that this field of scientific research raises, which appears consensual from the start (the right to parenthood). We focused on European Community legislation (countries constituting the European Community), which includes Portugal. The most significant conclusions are: there is usually common legislation in the various countries on medically assisted procreation; there are, however, differences, which we made explicit in the text. The most consensus situation refers to medically assisted procreation up to 14 days of fertilization. The bioethical arguments on the issues raised by medically assisted procreation are mainly founded on the principle of autonomy (parents), at the expense of other principles, such as non-maleficent and human dignity.