Maternal-fetal cell transfer in surrogacy: ties that bind

In search of: Suggesting a course of action for the scientific community to research potential impacts of heritable gene editing on the maternal carrier

Prospective parents with a high risk of transmission of a disease-causing mutation may want to have an unaffected genetically related child. With advances in scientific technologies, including CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats), they may be able to do so through heritable gene editing of the human germline at the pre-implantation stage. CRISPR technology in the reproduction and fertility context could potentially correct mutations in the germline, allow for the production of embryos that are free from a mutation and terminate the transmission of a disease-causing mutation from parent to child. As reproductive technologies evolve, a gap in the available literature exists that fails to address the potential impacts of edited fetal DNA on the maternal carrier. Both critical technical issues related to employing CRISPR, and germline editing based technologies in human reproduction and long-term impacts need to be studied and clarified to ensure positive application and outcomes for both offspring and mother.

Regulating Gamete Donation in the U.S.: Ethical, Legal and Social Implications

This article explores the practice of gamete donation in the U.S. having in mind the larger question of what do we as a society owe children born as a result (donor-conceived children). Do recipient-parents have a duty to tell their donor-conceived child about his/her genetic origins? Should the identity of the donor be disclosed or remain anonymous? Does the child have a right to know her conception story and to receive information, including identifying information, about the donor? Furthermore, if a donor-conceived child has a right to know, who has the duty to tell her/him about it? The Article underscores the ethical, legal and social dilemmas that arise, comparing and contrasting with international developments in this arena. It highlights the market-based and more specific medical justifications for regulating this field, explores the emerging so-called right of the child to know his/her genetic origins (“the right to know”), and considers the challenges such a right evokes to existing legal culture and principles of medical ethics in the U.S. as well as other broader societal implications of such a right.