ESHRE Task Force on Ethics and Law22: Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis†

De Wert G1, Dondorp W2, Shenfield F3, Devroey P4, Tarlatzis B5, Barri P6, Diedrich K7, Provoost V8, Pennings G8.

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Abstract

This Task Force document discusses some relatively unexplored ethical issues involved in preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). The document starts from the wide consensus that PGD is ethically acceptable if aimed at helping at-risk couples to avoid having a child with a serious disorder. However, if understood as a limit to acceptable indications for PGD, this 'medical model' may turn out too restrictive. The document discusses a range of possible requests for PGD that for different reasons fall outwith the accepted model and argues that instead of rejecting those requests out of hand, they need to be independently assessed in the light of ethical criteria. Whereas, for instance, there is no good reason for rejecting PGD in order to avoid health problems in a third generation (where the second generation would be healthy but faced with burdensome reproductive choices if wanting to have children), using PGD to make sure that one's child will have the same disorder or handicap as its parents, is ethically unacceptable.

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