Habil.-Schr. Univ. Frankfurt (Main), 2007.

Human infertility is not a new phenomenon, but it is as old as humanity itself. Currently in most developed countries, the number of couples who have a problem with childbearing is growing. This is due, among other things, to the lifestyle associated with career development and postponement of parenthood. While in the past infertile couples usually had only two options to deal with their sterility - childlessness and a substitute life program, or adopting a child. Today, infertile couples have a third option and this is the treatment of infertility using assisted reproduction methods. This year, exactly forty years have elapsed since the birth of the first child by means of extracorporeal fertilization. Already then the assisted reproduction was considered a method that is ethically problematic. Numerous specialists, such as physicians, biologists, lawyers, philosophers, theologians, and others, have been involved in the quest for ethical issues. Not only there has been no solution to some problems during the whole lifetime of assisted reproduction on which most experts and the general public would agree, but with the gradual development of this treatment method new problems have arisen. Today's stage of development of artificial insemination techniques and procedures together with modern...

Human infertility is not a new phenomenon, but it is as old as humanity itself. Currently in most developed countries, the number of couples who have a problem with childbearing is growing. This is due, among other things, to the lifestyle associated with career development and postponement of parenthood. While in the past infertile couples usually had only two options to deal with their sterility - childlessness and a substitute life program, or adopting a child. Today, infertile couples have a third option and this is the treatment of infertility using assisted reproduction methods. This year, exactly forty years have elapsed since the birth of the first child by means of extracorporeal fertilization. Already then the assisted reproduction was considered a method that is ethically problematic. Numerous specialists, such as physicians, biologists, lawyers, philosophers, theologians, and others, have been involved in the quest for ethical issues. Not only there has been no solution to some problems during the whole lifetime of assisted reproduction on which most experts and the general public would agree, but with the gradual development of this treatment method new problems have arisen. Today's stage of development of artificial insemination techniques and procedures together with modern...