Australia recently passed legislation explicitly allowing mitochondrial donation...
There are two strong ethical reasons to avoid harm to egg donors: a duty to minimise harm and the proportionality rule...
More and more fertility centres are imposing expanded carrier screening (ECS) on their gamete donors. ECS allows for the detection of the carrier status of hundreds of recessive disorders in donors who are not at an increased risk...
More and more people are using DNA testing websites. The curiosity about one's ancestry seems to be growing, especially in the USA. In doing so, millions of people are giving away all rights to their genetic information without much concern about what can
For some years now, counsellors and psychologists have been spreading the message that it's in the best interest of children to know if they are donor conceived. However, my recent literature review has shown that there is in fact very little empirical ev
The State Legislature of Victoria has decided unilaterally to break their agreements with the sperm donors who donated before 1998 and will reveal their identity. It is difficult to imagine a measure that shows more disrespect for both donors and recipients...
The European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) has been concerned about the development of cross-border infertility treatment for some time. There are three reasons for this: the frequently negative publicity for infertility treatment presented as 'reproductive tourism', the increasing numbers and the risks for patients. ESHRE has taken...
Egg sharing remains a highly controversial procedure. The discussion on whether or not egg sharing in return for a free or reduced IVF cycle constitutes a kind of payment has been going on since the very beginning of the practice. However, from an ethical point of view, it might be...
The abolition of gamete donor anonymity has led to a greater shortage of candidate donors (including sperm donors) in several countries. All kinds of solutions have been proposed, including increased payment. Another solution, namely egg sharing, has been criticised by some as morally dubious. In the meantime, as the SEED...
The recommendations of the recent report by the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee in the UK have stirred up the discussion on social sex selection. Over the years, the discussion on sex selection has been seriously hampered by the high emotional engagement of the participants. As a consequence...
