Fetuses, Pregnant Women, and in Vitro Fertilization

Abstract

Perhaps one of the most emotionally charged topics involved in the protection of human subjects is the matter of pregnant women and fetuses and the related issue of in vitro fertilization, since it relates tangentially to numerous other behavioral, biomedical, and ethical questions. For example, although once existing only within the realm of science fiction, it now appears technically possible for scientists to conduct genetic engineering to the extent that selected traits of individuals could be encouraged. At a minimum, it is already possible, through amniocentesis, to identify the sex of an unborn child by removing a small amount of amniotic fluid from the pregnant women’s uterus. The very possibility of such a technique worries those who fear that prospective parents may elect for abortion rather than give birth to a child of a nondesired sex.