Introduction
It is hard to disagree that technological advances have made many actions possible for ordinary people. Things that our ancestors could not even imagine are now part of the daily life of the average person. Nevertheless, some new possibilities amaze modern humans with their scope while also causing numerous ethical and legal concerns. For example, reproductive technologies nowadays allow females diagnosed with infertility to get pregnant, carry to term, and give birth to a healthy child. Learning about two Indian females in their seventies using in vitro fertilization (IVF) and having babies (Lardieri, 2019), one may question the morality of these cases.
Morality of Reproductive Technologies
On the one hand, it is eternal happiness and blessing for these two families to finally have children after trying for decades to conceive naturally. According to reporters, the clinic in India was skeptical at first, but Daljinder’s persistence persuaded the doctors to try, and the woman managed to give birth and even breastfeed the baby (Truly, 2016). Therefore, all she needed was fertilization, meaning that her overall health allowed her to become a mother with the help of IVF. On the other hand, people are concerned about whether it is ethical to become parents at such a late age when illnesses, rapid fatigue, and the general decline in health can interfere with adequate care for the newborn.
Several approaches exist to this question, and the first is that it is never possible to know when a person dies. For instance, if two females, one in her twenties and the other in her seventies, come to the clinic for IVF treatment, the former is likely to be accepted, while the latter is possibly refused. After giving birth, the young mother passes away because of an accident, and the senior female lives into their eighties or nineties and has great well-being (The Doctors, 2019). This suggestion undermines the argument that only younger people can access reproductive technologies. Another approach refers to risks associated with late pregnancy. According to Zargar and Welch (2016), “the risk of preeclampsia, a condition characterized by high blood pressure and signs of damage to other organs like the kidneys, increases with age and can lead to preterm birth” (para. 12).
Infants born by these fertilization technologies also tend to have poor health in the future (Aznar & Tudela, 2020). Another moral concern relates to those embryos that are lost in IVF (Aznar & Tudela, 2020). Therefore, I find it overall ethical to use reproductive technologies, but exclusions exist, and providers must strictly monitor the process, apply essential selection criteria, and control the health of the mother and newborn.
Conclusion
Further, there is also debate regarding the role of government in abortion decisions. In general, women should have the right to control their bodies and make personal choices when it comes to terminating the pregnancy (Our Bodies, 2021). However, certain restrictions are required, including abortion after fifteen or twenty weeks, and I believe it is the responsibility of the authorities to establish these rules and monitor that providers and patients follow them (Our Bodies, 2021). Moreover, when the government states abortions are legal, they become much more accessible, and conservatives and other people against this procedure have less power (Shields, 2023). Nevertheless, most freedom and choice should still belong to females, and it is yet to be established how exactly the authorities should control compliance with the law.
References
Aznar, J., & Tudela, J. (2020). Bioethics of assisted reproductive technology. In N. Sharma, S. Chakrabarti, Y. Barak, & A. Ellenbogen (Eds.), Innovations in Assisted Reproduction Technology. IntechOpen.
The Doctors. (2019). 74-year-old woman gives birth to twins [Video]. YouTube. Web.
Lardieri, A. (2019). 74-year-old woman gives birth to twins in India. US News. Web.
Our Bodies. (2021). How involved should the government be in abortion? College women aren’t sure. Web.
Shields, J. A. (2023). Why conservatives are getting more moderate on abortion. The Atlantic. Web.
Truly. (2016). How old?! Indian woman in her 70s becomes first-time mother [Video]. YouTube. Web.
Zargar, A., & Welch, A. (2016). Woman in her 70s may be oldest ever to give birth. CBS News. Web.