Introduction to the Right to Procreate and Assisted Reproductive Technologies

Abstract

This chapter briefly discusses the right to procreate and related technological assistance. The right to procreate is one of the most important personal rights, and it has received widespread recognition under the law. Yet its protections can be tenuous for many people, particularly those who are poor and those who need assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) to have children. This chapter highlights the complications arising from the right to procreate with technological assistance. Of all the areas of health law and bioethics, this may be the one with the largest disagreements across countries. On whether (and under what conditions) to permit surrogacy, anonymous gamete donation, pre-embryo disposition agreements, and posthumous reproduction, to name but a few examples, there are sharp divergences among, and even within, countries (in the United States, much of this is committed to state not federal law).