Religious perspectives on embaryo donation and research
Date
2010
Authors
Kerridge, I.
Jordens, C.
Benson, R.
Clifford, R.
Ankeny, R.
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Journal article
Citation
Clinical Ethics, 2010; 5(1):35-45
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Ian H Kerridge, Christopher F C Jordens, Rod Benson, Ross Clifford and Rachel A Ankeny with commentaries by Damien Keown, Bernadette Tobin, Swasti Bhattacharyya, Abdulaziz Sachedina, Lisa Soleymani Lehmann and Brian Edgar
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Abstract
The success of assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) worldwide has led to an accumulation of frozen embryos that are surplus to the reproductive needs of those for whom they were created. In these situations, couples must decide whether to discard them or donate them for scientific research or for use by other infertile couples. While legislation and regulation may limit the decisions that couples make, their decisions are often shaped by their religious beliefs. Unfortunately, health professionals, scientists and policy-makers are often unaware of the way in which faith traditions view ART and decisions concerning the ‘fate’ of surplus embryos. In this paper scholars representing six major religious traditions provide a commentary on a hypothetical case concerning the donation or destruction of excess ART embryos. These commentaries provide a rich account of religious perspectives on the status of the human embryo and an insight into the relevance of faith to health and policy decisions, particularly in reproductive medicine, ART and embryo research.
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© 2010 Royal Society of Medicine Press