1. CREATING LIFE…

2. JOURNAL QUESTION:
Out of the 4 reproductive technologies we discussed last week (AI, IVF, SURROGACY & GIFT), which methods seem morally good to you? Which ones do not? Why?

3. California Surrogacy Law
In 1993's Johnson v. Calvert, the California Supreme Court held that the intended parents in a gestational-surrogacy agreement (an agreement in which the carrying mother had no genetic relationship to the baby) should be recognized as the natural and legal parents. Since the intended mother donated the egg but the surrogate mother gave birth, the court decided that the person who intended to procreate should be considered the natural mother.
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4. QUESTIONS FROM THE BOOK: AI
Does the “introduction of a third party” into the procreative act violate your marriage covenant?
Is it unfair to bring a child into the world who doesn’t know the identity of his/her father?
Is it unfair that children will be denied information of their medical history?
Is it ethical to donate or sell your sperm that will bring a new life into the world that you will never know?
Is it dangerous to have ONE sperm donor fertilize MULTIPLE EGGS that can lead to genetic “half- brothers and half-sisters?”

5. QUESTIONS FROM THE BOOK: IVF
Could IVF increase your chances of ovarian cancer?
What about a success rate of only 20-30%?
Is this worth the thousands of dollars per treatment that is NOT covered by insurance?
What should be done with the “extra” embryos?
What about the fact that 30-40% of frozen embryos are destroyed in the thawing process?

6. QUESTIONS FROM THE BOOK: SM
What do you think about involving potentially 5 people in the procreative act?
Does Surrogate Motherhood exploit poorer women? [think of Baby Momma]
What about the emotional bond created between a mother and the baby in her womb?
Do surrogacy contracts really have legal power?

7. PREIMPLANTATION DIAGNOSIS
This is the process of doing a genetic diagnosis of embryos in vitro.
This is used to ensure that embryos are “free from defects” or have the “desired sex”
“It is forgotten that sick and disabled people are not some separate category of humanity.” (Dignitatis Personae #22)

8. GENE THERAPY
The goal of this is to apply genetic engineering to human beings
Somatic cell gene therapy
Germ line cell therapy
Possible effects:
Social stigma for those who lack certain qualities
What is acceptable is culturally dependent

9. CLONING
This all began with “Dolly,” the genetically cloned sheep by Dr. Ian Wilmut in 1997
Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer: Taking the nucleus of body cell of an adult sheep and putting it into an embryo in vitro
Can be used for medical therapy or reproduction
Can lead to “biological slavery” (DP #29)

10. CURRENT LEGISLATION…
Cal. Health & Safety Code, ��24185 to (Approved 1997, made permanent 2002) Bans efforts to create a human being by utilizing somatic cell nuclear transfer "for the purpose of, or to implant, the resulting product to initiate a pregnancy that could result in the birth of a human being." Also bans "human reproductive cloning," defined as "the creation of a human fetus that is substantially genetically identical to a previously born human being."
Cal. Health & Safety Code, � (Enacted 2002) Establishes a state policy that "research involving the derivation and use of human embryonic stem cells, human embryonic germ cells, and human adult stem cells from any source, including somatic cell nuclear transplantation, shall be permitted." This new law may be designed to supercede the older law against creating a cloned fetus. "Embryonic germ cells" are obtained from 8-week-old fetuses, while adult stem cells are obtained from born children.