Rebecca Cupp
Biotechnology
Mr. Fantz
September 10, 2013
With
the recent technological breakthroughs of the Human Genome Project, In-Vitro
Fertilization (IVF), and Nuclear Translation, reproduction has strayed from a
private act in the bedroom to a multimillion dollar industry (Silver 81). New
reproductive techniques such as Cyrogenesis, the Pre-Genetic Determination Test
(PGD), and Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI), have created safe
alternatives for infertile couples, and in some cases, a preferred alternative
to natural reproduction (“18 Ways to Make a Baby”).
Reproduction
is defined by Robert Brooker, Professor of Genetics at the University of
Minnesota-Twin Cities, as “the generation of offspring by sexual or asexual
means”, however, this definition must be more distinct to apply to today’s
technologies (Brooker 414). Human reproduction, which is inherently sexual,
should only be considered natural if the offspring is the result of sexual
intercourse, without extraction, implantation, or injection; where the oogoctye
(egg cell), blastosphere, embryo, and fetus remain in the mother’s body until birth.
Many reproductive techniques, such as IVF, would therefore be considered
unnatural on account of oogacytes being extracted and implanted. ICSI would
also be considered unnatural because of the injection of sperm. IVF, PGD, ISCI,
and many other reproductive methods would all be considered unnatural, yet that
should not affect their legality, availability, or usage.
Although
many of these technologies have been defined as unnatural, they should be
accepted as legitimate alternatives to natural reproduction and continue to
provide couples all around the world with the gift of a lifetime: a child.
Unnatural conceptions utilizing reproductive techniques such as ICSI or IVF
yield the same happy, healthy babies as natural reproductions, and as such,
research and access of these methods should be upheld by law (“18 Ways to Make
a Baby”).
Many unnatural
reproduction techniques are already perfected, with the same probability of
achieving a live birth as a natural pregnancy. As Lee Silver, author of Remaking Eden, explains, the natural
chance of having a child; even if a fertilized, divided, and differentiated
embryo develop naturally, “there is still a 50% chance it will pass right
though her uterus without her even knowing it…” (61). And as of 2013, The Society for Assisted
Reproductive Technology, SART, found
that 46.2% of donor embryo’s (IVF) resulted in pregnancies, and 40.1% in live
births (“2013 Clinical Summary Report”). As more and more methods are
perfected, they should each become increasing available, affordable, and
acceptable to the public, simply because these techniques work.
"18
Ways to Make a Baby." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. N.p., n.d.
Web. 8 Sept. 2013. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/transcripts/2811baby.html>.
"2013
SART Clinical Summary." Society of Assisted Reproductive Technology.
N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Sept. 2013.
<https://www.sartcorsonline.com/rptCSR_PublicMultYear.aspx?ClinicPKID=0>.
Brooker,
Robert J., Eric P. Widmaier, Linda E. Graham, and Peter D. Stiling. Biology.
3 ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2013. Print.
Silver, Lee
M.. Remaking Eden: how genetic engineering and cloning will transform the
American family. New York: Avon Books, 1998. Print.
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