REPRODUCTIVE MEDICINE AND THE LAW WORKSHOPS

American Society For Reproductive Med, Birmingham AL

Investigators

Abstract

[unreadable] DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Infertility affects approximately 13-14% of couples of reproductive age in the United States. Although this rate has remained stable over the last few years, the demand for infertility services has increased substantially as refinements in assisted reproductive technologies (ART), including in vitro fertilization (IVF), have extended family-building potential to patients who previously had little hope of conception. Presently, approximately 1% of all children born in the US are born using ART. The advent of IVF and the ability to produce a live baby using spermatozoa, oocytes, embryos and gestational carriers from heterologous sources has led to a myriad [unreadable] of complicated legal issues pertaining to embryos, children parents, families and reproductive rights. Patients and their physicians often are confused by seemingly contradictory state laws and state and federal judicial rulings pertaining to rights and responsibilities of infertility patients and health care providers. There is an urgent public health need in the United States for medical and legal scholars and professionals to develop enlightened and coherent approaches to jurisprudence in the area of reproductive medicine so that this increasing segment of the population is able to maximize its family-building potential. The American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) and the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) have collaborated to develop a program consisting of two workshops to address the gap between ART and existing laws. The objectives of the workshops are to: 1) facilitate dialogue among medical and legal professionals that will lead to increased understanding in the medical profession of the legal ramifications of advances in assisted reproductive technologies and to increased understanding in the legal profession of the need for novel legal strategies to justly and humanely govern the rapidly changing variations in approaches to family building; 2) review jointly the current status of assisted reproductive technologies and the body of federal, state and local laws and judicial decisions pertaining to gametes, embryos, parenting, and reproductive rights and responsibilities; and 3) produce and disseminate scholarly expert guidance that increases knowledge and informs public policy in the realm of reproductive medicine and the law. These workshops are expected to be the first in an ongoing dialogue between medical and legal scholars in their efforts to provide sound legal guidance for patients undergoing ART. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]