China
Africa
Explore chapters and articles related to this topic
The Wrongs of ‘Wrongful Birth’
Published in Joel Michael Reynolds, Christine Wieseler, The Disability Bioethics Reader, 2022
Disability studies critiques helpfully articulate problematic assumptions associated with wrongful birth and provide a necessary reassessment of the stakes of the matter. My goal in the remainder of this chapter is to understand ‘wrongful birth’ in the broader social, political, and biomedical nexus of contemporary life. I examine the case of Cramblett v. Midwest Sperm Bank and further explore the problematic intersecting ideological elements which make wrongful birth socially and legally cognizable.
Sperm Banking
Published in Botros Rizk, Ashok Agarwal, Edmund S. Sabanegh, Male Infertility in Reproductive Medicine, 2019
Rakesh Sharma, Alyssa M. Giroski, Ashok Agarwal
Another challenge is the increase in the request for posthumous sperm procurement (PSP) which clearly poses medical, legal, and ethical challenges [53]. The first case of PSP occurred in 1980 [54]. The first case of a baby born from posthumous conception was in 1999 [55]. Sperm are retrieved within 24–36 hours of death and cryopreserved at a sperm bank until it is used. Sperm can be retrieved by epididymal aspiration, percutaneous testicular biopsy, and removal of the entire testes. There are numerous ethical considerations with PSP including questions of informed consent, rights of the deceased, motivation of the requesting party, and best interest of the child. There are strict regulations on postmortem sperm retrieval. PSP is illegal in France, Sweden, Canada, Germany, and some states in Australia. In the United Kingdom it is illegal to store sperm without written permission of the donor [40]. Israel has instituted a two-part protocol in which sperm can be retrieved from a dead or a dying man, but a court order must be obtained before its use for conception [56].
The Role of Biomedical Technology
Published in Kant Patel, Mark Rushefsky, Healthcare Politics and Policy in America, 2019
The discussion of reproductive and life-sustaining technologies in this chapter exemplifies the complexities of legal and ethical issues raised by modern medical technology. Ethical objections to artificial insemination are often raised on religious or theological grounds. Objections are also raised on the ground that artificial insemination produces harmful consequences for society when the woman is not married, when the donor is not screened, or when the identity of the donor is concealed. Similar ethical concerns are raised with in-vitro fertilization (i.e., test-tube fertilization), surrogate parenthood, embryo transfers, and the use of frozen embryos and sperm banks.
Optimizing the protocol for vitrification of individual spermatozoa by adjusting equilibration time
Published in Systems Biology in Reproductive Medicine, 2020
Michael Belenky, Diana Itzhakov, Vita Freger, Orna Roseman, Sarah Abehsera, Netanella Miller, Arie Berkovitz
The concept of using liquid nitrogen to freeze human sperm began as early as 1943 (Hoagland and Pincus 1943). This practice has become routine in the assisted reproduction laboratory (Anger et al. 2003). Slow freezing is the prevalent method used by sperm banks worldwide. Sperm is suspended in a mixture of 1:1 v/v sperm washing medium and a cryoprotective agent for 10 minutes (Polge et al. 1949; McLaughlin et al. 1992) at room temperature and then gradually cooled to −192°C. This method improves survival and motility after thawing by reducing deleterious effects such as ice crystal formation, dehydration, increased salt concentration and thermal shock (Critser et al. 1987; Royere et al. 1996; Desrosiers et al. 2006). However, it requires a relatively large total liquid volume of 0.25 to 1 ml and is not appropriate when only a few spermatozoa are frozen, such as in cases of virtual azoospermia, cryptozoospermia or after testicular biopsy, due to inevitable loss of spermatozoa upon post-thaw sample processing.
Psychosocial aspects of identity-release gamete donation – perspectives of donors, recipients, and offspring
Published in Upsala Journal of Medical Sciences, 2020
Agneta Skoog Svanberg, Gunilla Sydsjö, Claudia Lampic
Only one study was found that reported on the final step of an identity-release donor programme, i.e. requests and provision of identifying donor information to adult offspring. In a follow-up study, Scheib et al. (26) reported on the first 10 years of this practice at one sperm bank. During this period, adult offspring from 256 families were eligible to receive such information, and a total of 85 offspring (35%) contacted the clinic for this purpose. Being a female offspring and belonging to a single-parent household increased the probability of requesting donor information, while having heterosexual-couple parents decreased the likelihood of a request. A large majority of offspring contacted the clinic for information within the first three years after turning 18. The most common motivations for requesting the donor’s identity were to gain information about who the donor is as a person, his motives for donating, and medical or health information. Many believed that information about the donor would help them learn something about themselves and help to ‘fill in the missing links’. While a majority (75%) expressed an interest in contacting the donor, most had low or no specific expectations of a potential contact, and very few expressed a desire for a close relationship. Four offspring were informed by the clinic that their donor was not open to contact and were reported to be very disappointed and upset.
Relationships among lesbians involved in childbirth/parenting, sperm donors, and children in Japan
Published in Journal of Lesbian Studies, 2021
Outside of the aforementioned official channel, there are websites on the Internet that call for own sperm donation, and there is also a nonprofit “sperm bank” that was created by multiple sperm donors. However, it is not clear who actually operate these sites. Etsuko (in her 20 s) contacted them while considering the use of a domestic “sperm bank” online; however, she was told that only two donors were actually registered. Another lesbian, Yuki (in her 20 s), contacted a group of people who were donating sperm; however, she said she thought that it was strange because she could only contact one person at any given time. Therefore, there are various problems in using domestic sperm banks compared to overseas sperm banks.