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feel connected to the child through the husband's sperm and the wife's pregnancy. Couples often ask when and how to tell others, including the child, about the donation. We counsel them to consider the matter of disclosure carefully, to protect their privacy and personal comfort, and to tell the child the truth as part of his or her own unique story sometime before school age. In her 1988 book. Embryos, Ethics and Women's Rights, Schuker'^ cites several explanations of the psychological effects of the new reproductive technologies: 1) Parents and children generate fantasies about the technological interventions infertile couples use to achieve parenthood; 2) good parenting and effective nurturing of children does not require a biological connection, 3) but early psychological attachment is important for normal development; and 4) technology can relieve the psychological pain of infertility. She finds that the "key factor in adequate parenting performance is the experience of being well-nurtured oneself" Schuker is clear that the way a child is formed is less important than the meaning assigned to the technological beginning and the adjustment to it that the parents make. Ethical Considerations Some feminists, religious groups, and ethicists find reason to object to the process of egg donation. In her 1985 book, The Mother Machine, Corea'' cautions women about being used by male physicians as experimental subjects and being used by their husbands simply as receptacles for sperm rather than being valued for their other uaits. She also argues that women should not be made to feel incomplete if they are childless. We feel that these scenarios, while possible, are infrequent In our experience it is more common for the husband to be goaded almost reluctantly into parenthood because his wife is determined to have a baby. It is certainly possible to have pressure or coercion from either side, but we do not see this as a valid argument to withhold the procedure Irom those who desire it and to whom it could extend the joys of parenthood. Raymond states that "the focus on altruism sentimentalizes and thus obscures the way women are exploited by the reproductive technologies. This whole stagecraft of the reproductive gifts and gift-givers...fails to examine the institution of reproductive science." She continues ".. .this new reproductive alUuism depends almost entirely on women as the givers of these reproductive gifts� women who have been tutored culturally "Older parents can help their child deal with the issue of age by being honest and open about the timing of their parenthood.. .if parents are ashamed about their age or physical condition or the manner in which their child was conceived, then the child may incorporate a sense of shame and inadequacy." and historically to put other's interests t�efore their own.. .the alUuistic pedestal on which women are placed by new reproductive technologies is one more way of glorifying women's inequality."" Robertson' discusses the pros and cons of volunteer versus paid donors. He concludes that egg donation entails greater risks than other activities for which people volunteer. He finds that fears of class bias and exploitation are not supported, and asserts that, although repugnant to some, payment is an appropriate way to recognize the contribution the donor makes. It would be discriminatory to pay sperm donors but not egg donors. Other ethical considerations focus on "tampering with nature," altering the gene pool and exploiting donors who, because they are "programmed to be giving as women in society," don't really know their own minds and can't be trusted to give informed consent.'* We think these arguments are balanced by considering how young men have volunteered for dangerous military assignments throughout history. Altruism and volunteerism are parts of our human heritage. Religious objections follow the lines of "tampering with God's will" and "playing God." The prohibition against adultery is sometimes cited, but since there is no sexual involvement in IVF, the argument seems weak." There is, of course. Biblical reference to infertility resolved through divine intervention, the use of concubines, and leviratic marriage (the compulsory marriage of a widow by a brother of her deceased husband to produce an heir for the brother). Parenting Issues The issues of bonding to the child, of parenting after infertility, and of being an older parent are all part of the multifac-eted picture of becoming a parent through egg donation. The most salient issue specific to the use of donor eggs is that of being an older mother. Yarrow says older mothers have "higher educational levels, higher status jobs, and higher incomes, on the average than do younger mothers."^ The child bom to older parents has the advantage of parents who are settled, who know each other well, who are more fmancially secure, and who have time to invest in their children's activities. To be sure, there are disadvantages in having parents two generations removed. Parents' health and energy levels may not be sufficient for sports and other athletic activities so important to adolescents. Rexibility in rearing a young child may be needed at a time when older parents are "set in their ways." Older parents can help their child deal with the issue of age by being honest and open about the timing of their parenthood. Clearly, if the parents are ashamed about their age or physical condition or NCMJ / October 1994, Volume 55 Number 10 485
Object Description
Rating | |
Fixed Title * | NCHH-17: North Carolina Medical Journal [1940-Present] |
Document Title | North Carolina Medical Journal [1940-Present] |
Subject Topical Other | Public Health -- Periodicals.; Physicians -- North Carolina -- Directory.; Societies, Medical -- North Carolina -- Periodicals. |
Description | Includes Transactions of the Society, -1960; 1961- , Transactions issued separately, bound in.; Includes Transactions of the auxiliary to the Medical Society of the State of North Carolina and Proceedings of the North Carolina Public Health Association. Official organ of the Medical Society of the State of North Carolina, 1940-May 1972; of the North Carolina Medical Society, June 1972-. Vols. for 1940-May 1972 published by the Medical Society of the State of North Carolina; June 1972- by the North Carolina Medical Society. |
Contributor | Medical Society of the State of North Carolina. Transactions.; Medical Society of the State of North Carolina.; North Carolina Medical Society.; North Carolina Medical Society. Transactions.; North Carolina Public Health Association. Proceedings. |
Publisher | [Winston-Salem] : North Carolina Medical Society [etc.], 1940- |
Repository | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Health Sciences Library. |
Host | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |
Date | 1994 |
Identifier | NCHH-17-055 |
Form General | Periodicals |
Language | English |
Rights | This item is part of the North Carolina History of Health Digital Collection. Some materials in the Collection are protected by U.S. copyright law. This item is presented by the Health Sciences Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for research and educational purposes. It may not be republished or distributed without permission of the Health Sciences Library. |
Digital Collection | North Carolina History of Health Digital Collection |
Sponsor | The North Carolina History of Health Digital Collection is an open access publishing initiative of the Health Sciences Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Financial support for the initiative was provided in part by a multi-year NC ECHO (Exploring Cultural Heritage Online) digitization grant, awarded by the State Library of North Carolina, and funded through the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA). |
Volume Number | 55 |
Health Discipline | Medicine |
Digital Format | JPEG 2000 |
Print / Download PDF Version | http://archives.hsl.unc.edu/nchh/nchh-17/nchh-17-055.pdf |
Document Sort | all; nchh-17 |
Volume Link | http://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/search/collection/nchh/field/identi/searchterm/NCHH-17-055 |
Title Link | http://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/search/collection/nchh/field/documa/searchterm/NCHH-17 |
Catalog Record link | http://search.lib.unc.edu/search?R=UNCb1306322 |
Revision History | done |
Description
Fixed Title * | Page 485 |
Document Title | North Carolina Medical Journal [1940-Present] |
Subject Topical Other | Public Health -- Periodicals.; Physicians -- North Carolina -- Directory.; Societies, Medical -- North Carolina -- Periodicals. |
Description | Includes Transactions of the Society, -1960; 1961- , Transactions issued separately, bound in.; Includes Transactions of the auxiliary to the Medical Society of the State of North Carolina and Proceedings of the North Carolina Public Health Association. Official organ of the Medical Society of the State of North Carolina, 1940-May 1972; of the North Carolina Medical Society, June 1972-. Vols. for 1940-May 1972 published by the Medical Society of the State of North Carolina; June 1972- by the North Carolina Medical Society. |
Contributor | Medical Society of the State of North Carolina. Transactions.; Medical Society of the State of North Carolina.; North Carolina Medical Society.; North Carolina Medical Society. Transactions.; North Carolina Public Health Association. Proceedings. |
Publisher | [Winston-Salem] : North Carolina Medical Society [etc.], 1940- |
Repository | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Health Sciences Library. |
Host | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |
Date | 1994 |
Identifier | NCHH-17-055-0305 |
Form General | Periodicals |
Page Type | all; article |
Language | English |
Rights | This item is part of the North Carolina History of Health Digital Collection. Some materials in the Collection are protected by U.S. copyright law. This item is presented by the Health Sciences Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for research and educational purposes. It may not be republished or distributed without permission of the Health Sciences Library. |
Filename | ncmed551994junedec_0305.jp2 |
Digital Collection | North Carolina History of Health Digital Collection |
Sponsor | The North Carolina History of Health Digital Collection is an open access publishing initiative of the Health Sciences Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Financial support for the initiative was provided in part by a multi-year NC ECHO (Exploring Cultural Heritage Online) digitization grant, awarded by the State Library of North Carolina, and funded through the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA). |
Volume Number | 55 |
Issue Number | 10 |
Page Number | 485 |
Health Discipline | Medicine |
Full Text | feel connected to the child through the husband's sperm and the wife's pregnancy. Couples often ask when and how to tell others, including the child, about the donation. We counsel them to consider the matter of disclosure carefully, to protect their privacy and personal comfort, and to tell the child the truth as part of his or her own unique story sometime before school age. In her 1988 book. Embryos, Ethics and Women's Rights, Schuker'^ cites several explanations of the psychological effects of the new reproductive technologies: 1) Parents and children generate fantasies about the technological interventions infertile couples use to achieve parenthood; 2) good parenting and effective nurturing of children does not require a biological connection, 3) but early psychological attachment is important for normal development; and 4) technology can relieve the psychological pain of infertility. She finds that the "key factor in adequate parenting performance is the experience of being well-nurtured oneself" Schuker is clear that the way a child is formed is less important than the meaning assigned to the technological beginning and the adjustment to it that the parents make. Ethical Considerations Some feminists, religious groups, and ethicists find reason to object to the process of egg donation. In her 1985 book, The Mother Machine, Corea'' cautions women about being used by male physicians as experimental subjects and being used by their husbands simply as receptacles for sperm rather than being valued for their other uaits. She also argues that women should not be made to feel incomplete if they are childless. We feel that these scenarios, while possible, are infrequent In our experience it is more common for the husband to be goaded almost reluctantly into parenthood because his wife is determined to have a baby. It is certainly possible to have pressure or coercion from either side, but we do not see this as a valid argument to withhold the procedure Irom those who desire it and to whom it could extend the joys of parenthood. Raymond states that "the focus on altruism sentimentalizes and thus obscures the way women are exploited by the reproductive technologies. This whole stagecraft of the reproductive gifts and gift-givers...fails to examine the institution of reproductive science." She continues ".. .this new reproductive alUuism depends almost entirely on women as the givers of these reproductive gifts� women who have been tutored culturally "Older parents can help their child deal with the issue of age by being honest and open about the timing of their parenthood.. .if parents are ashamed about their age or physical condition or the manner in which their child was conceived, then the child may incorporate a sense of shame and inadequacy." and historically to put other's interests t�efore their own.. .the alUuistic pedestal on which women are placed by new reproductive technologies is one more way of glorifying women's inequality."" Robertson' discusses the pros and cons of volunteer versus paid donors. He concludes that egg donation entails greater risks than other activities for which people volunteer. He finds that fears of class bias and exploitation are not supported, and asserts that, although repugnant to some, payment is an appropriate way to recognize the contribution the donor makes. It would be discriminatory to pay sperm donors but not egg donors. Other ethical considerations focus on "tampering with nature" altering the gene pool and exploiting donors who, because they are "programmed to be giving as women in society" don't really know their own minds and can't be trusted to give informed consent.'* We think these arguments are balanced by considering how young men have volunteered for dangerous military assignments throughout history. Altruism and volunteerism are parts of our human heritage. Religious objections follow the lines of "tampering with God's will" and "playing God." The prohibition against adultery is sometimes cited, but since there is no sexual involvement in IVF, the argument seems weak." There is, of course. Biblical reference to infertility resolved through divine intervention, the use of concubines, and leviratic marriage (the compulsory marriage of a widow by a brother of her deceased husband to produce an heir for the brother). Parenting Issues The issues of bonding to the child, of parenting after infertility, and of being an older parent are all part of the multifac-eted picture of becoming a parent through egg donation. The most salient issue specific to the use of donor eggs is that of being an older mother. Yarrow says older mothers have "higher educational levels, higher status jobs, and higher incomes, on the average than do younger mothers."^ The child bom to older parents has the advantage of parents who are settled, who know each other well, who are more fmancially secure, and who have time to invest in their children's activities. To be sure, there are disadvantages in having parents two generations removed. Parents' health and energy levels may not be sufficient for sports and other athletic activities so important to adolescents. Rexibility in rearing a young child may be needed at a time when older parents are "set in their ways." Older parents can help their child deal with the issue of age by being honest and open about the timing of their parenthood. Clearly, if the parents are ashamed about their age or physical condition or NCMJ / October 1994, Volume 55 Number 10 485 |
Digital Format | JPEG 2000 |
Print / Download PDF Version | http://archives.hsl.unc.edu/nchh/nchh-17/nchh-17-055.pdf |
Document Sort | all; nchh-17 |
Article Title | The Use Of Donated Oocytes For The Treatment Of Infertility |
Article Author | L.M. Talbert; B.R. Novik; P. Johnson |
Volume Link | http://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/search/collection/nchh/field/identi/searchterm/NCHH-17-055 |
Title Link | http://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/search/collection/nchh/field/documa/searchterm/NCHH-17 |
Catalog Record link | http://search.lib.unc.edu/search?R=UNCb1306322 |
Revision History | done |
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