Background

Infertility affects an estimated 6.1 million people in the United States, or 10% of the reproductive age population. In vitro fertilization, egg and sperm donation, surrogacy, and other medical technologies are a part of the $2 billion medical industry that exists to address the problems of infertility. These techniques, combined with new knowledge in the realm of human genetics, present an area in which we encounter many ethical dilemmas. Reproductive medicine may quickly move beyond infertility treatment and into controversial areas of genetic engineering. Will humans one day be able to genetically engineer children to have the physical features and personality characteristics they desire? And if we can, should we? These are just two questions emerging as science continues to develop in the area of infertility treatment.

This page created by Mandy Chatterley