ABSTRACT
Gamete donation from third parties is controversial in China as it severs blood ties, which are considered of utmost importance in Confucian tradition. In recent years, infertile couples are increasingly demonstrating a preference for the use of gametes donated by family members to conceive children-known as "intra-family gamete donation." The main advantage of intra-family gamete donation is that it maintains blood ties between children and both parents. To date there is no practice of intra-family gamete donation in China. In this paper, we investigate intra-family adoption in China in order to illustrate that intra-family gamete donation is consistent with Confucian tradition regarding the importance of maintaining blood ties within the family. There are several specific ethical issues raised by intra-family gamete donation. It may, for example, result in consanguinity and the semblance of incest, lead to confused family relationships, and raise concerns about possible coercion of familial donors. Confucian tradition provides a new approach to understand and deal with these ethical issues in a way that Western tradition does not. As a result, we suggest intra-family gamete donation could be an acceptable solution to the problem of infertility in China. However, further discussion and open debates on the ethical issues raised by intra-family gamete donation are needed in China.
Subject(s)
Confucianism , Ethics , Family , Germ Cells , Religion and Medicine , Reproductive Techniques, Assisted/ethics , Tissue Donors , Adoption , China , Consanguinity , Family Relations , Female , Humans , Infertility , Male , Oocyte DonationABSTRACT
This article gives an overview of the ethical thinking about donor insemination among Chinese ethicists. We analysed the ethical arguments dedicated to the use of donor spermatozoa published in the important bioethics journals of China of the last 15 years. On the one hand, the general Confucian values strongly favour the genetic link as it fits with the traditional importance attached to the continuation of the family line. Therefore, artificial insemination by donor (AID) is highly controversial in China because the involvement of a third party (the donor) severs the genetic link between the husband and his family. On the other hand, procreation is regarded as an important aspect of Confucian filial piety and it is a basic right of every human being to enjoy a family life. AID should be thought of as a means to help infertile couples to overcome infertility. Nowadays, Chinese bioethicists are trying to reinterpret Confucianism in order to adapt it to modernity. One such reinterpretation focuses on the affectionate rather than the genetic tie between parents and child. As the application is still new in China, more discussion and open debate on ethical aspects is needed.
