First Conference of the European Network for Biomedical Ethics

In-vitro-Fertilization in the 90's:
Methods, Contexts, Consequences

Stuttgart (Leinfelden-Echterdingen), 16. - 19.01.1997

The main subject of this conference was the ethical assessment of IvF in view of its concrete application as an infertility treatment and the consideration of possible alternatives for use. Twenty years after the introduction and the establishment of this therapy a more concrete evaluation of its medical indications, social conditions and consequences, the psychological consequences for the women involved and the parent-child relationship becomes possible. The legal and ethical evaluation of the reproduction technology as regards for example the legal and moral status of supernumerary embryos in cryo-conservation has also to be considered in a European perspective.

The ethical evaluation concentrates today on the new evolution that IvF technology takes in relation to the extension of diagnostic possibilities due to genetic research. Little work has been done on the connection between IvF and genetic diagnostics and therapy, so the medical and ethical evaluation of the connecting lines will also be discussed on the conference.

Contributors

General Introduction

Lene Koch (Copenhagen)
Two decades of IvF - a critical reappraisal

Section 1: Infertility

Phil Taylor (Sussex)
Personal report from a couple who has undergone an IvF treatment

Hans-Rudolf Tinneberg (Bielefeld)
Different kinds of infertility, possible reasons for infertility

Elisabeth Beck-Gernsheim (Erlangen)
Social aspects of infertility: from hoping for a child to a designer baby

Lone Schmidt (Copenhagen)
The process of accepting infertility

Walter Lesch (Fribourg)
Is the desire for a child too strong? Or is there a right to a child of one's own?

Section 2: Indications for IvF

Hans van der Ven (Bonn)
Medical indications for IvF

Aldo Campana (Geneva)
Alternative, non-IvF therapies

Calum MacKellar (Edinburgh)
Legal regulations in Europe

Koen Demyttenaere (Leuven)
The effect of stress upon infertility

Stella Reiter-Theil (Freiburg)
Ethical analysis of counselling in reproductive medicine: neutrality and paternalism

Section 3: Issues directly related to IvF treatment

Dieter Krebs (Hamburg)
Medical success of IvF

Urban Wiesing (Münster)
Success rates in IvF

Guido de Wert (Maastricht)
Multifetal pregnancies: reduction or prevention?

Elisabeth Hildt (Tübingen)
IvF and freedom of action

Barbara Maier (Salzburg)
Influences of IvF treatment on the women involved

Section 4: Questions around supernumerary embryos

Ian Cooke (Sheffield)
Human embryos in medical practice

Yvon Englert (Brussels)
Destiny of supernumerary embryos: what do patients think about it?

Deryk Beyleveld (Sheffield)
Moral and legal status of the human embryo

Stefano Rodotà (Rome)
Comparison between different European legal regulations with regard to human embryos

Anne McLaren (London)
Supernumerary embryos: some social issues

Section 5: Technicalization of reproduction

Helmy Selman (Rome)
IvF in older women

Brian Lieberman (Manchester)
Limits of reproductive technology

Farhan Yazdani (Bron)
Ethical decision making in IvF in a multicultural setting

Dieter Birnbacher (Düsseldorf)
Do modern reproductive technologies violate human dignity?

Hub Zwart (Nijmegen)
Can nature serve as a criteria for a reasonable use of reproductive technologies? The case of menopausal IvF

Section 6: Connecting lines

Hansjakob Müller (Basel)
Connecting lines between IvF and preimplantation diagnosis and gene therapy from a medical point of view

Paul Schotsmans (Leuven)
Connecting lines between IvF and preimplantation diagnosis and gene therapy from an ethical point of view

Dietmar Mieth (Tübingen)
Summary and outlook

The contributions to these conference will be published in September 1997. For further information contact Ashgate Publishing (email: ashgate@cityscape.co.uk(ashgate@cityscape.co.uk?subject=ISBN 1-85972-685-2) ).

Last modified on 23 June 1997