Saviour Siblings : A Relational Approach to the Welfare of the Child in Selective Reproduction

211 Pages·2013·2.388 MB·English

by  Michelle Taylor-Sands

Saviour Siblings
Genetic screening technologies involving pre-implantation genetic diagnosis
(PGD) raise important questions about selective reproduction and the welfare
of the child to be born. How does selection impact on the identity of
the child who is born? Are children who are selected for a particular purpose
harmed or treated as commodities? How far should the state interfere with
parents’ reproductive choices?
Currently, concerns about the welfare of the child in selective reproduction
have focused on the individual interests of the child to be born. This book
re-evaluates the welfare of the child through the controversial topic of saviour
sibling selection. Drawing on relational feminist and communitarian ethics,
Michelle Taylor-Sands argues that the welfare of the child to be born is
inextricably linked with the welfare of his or her family. The author proposes
a relational model for selective reproduction based on a broad conception of
the welfare of the child that includes both individual and collective family
interests. By comparing regulation in the UK and Australia, the book maps
out how law and policy might support a relational model for saviour sibling
selection.
With an interdisciplinary focus, Saviour Siblings: A Relational Approach to the
Welfare of the Child in Selective Reproduction will be of particular interest to
academics and students of bioethics and law, as well as practitioners and
policymakers concerned with the ethics of selective reproduction.
Michelle Taylor-Sands is a Senior Lecturer at the Melbourne Law School,
University of Melbourne and has advised the Victoria government on assisted
reproductive treatment. Michelle has published in the field of saviour sibling
selection and the welfare of the child to be born.
Biomedical Law and Ethics Library
Series Editor: Sheila A. M. McLean
Scientificandclinicaladvances,socialandpoliticaldevelopmentsandtheimpact
ofhealthcareonourlivesraiseprofoundethicalandlegalquestions. Medicallaw
and ethics have become central to our understanding of these problems, and are
importanttoolsfortheanalysisandresolutionofproblems–real or imagined.
In thisseries, scholars at the forefrontof biomedicallawandethics contribute
to the debates in this area, with accessible, thought-provoking, and some-
times controversial, ideas. Each book in the series develops an independent
hypothesis and argues cogently for a particular position. One of the major
contributions of this series is the extent to which both law and ethics are
utilised in the content of the books, and the shape of the series itself.
The books in this series are analytical, with a key target audience of lawyers,
doctors, nurses, and the intelligent lay public.
Available titles:
Human Fertilisation and The Harm Paradox
Embryology Tort law and the unwanted child in
Reproducing regulation an era of choice
Kirsty Horsey & Hazel Biggs Nicolette Priaulx
Intention and Causation in Assisted Dying
Medical Non-killing Reflections on the Need for Law
The impact of criminal law concepts Reform
on euthanasia and assisted suicide Sheila McLean
Glenys Williams
Medicine, Malpractice and
Impairment and Disability Misapprehensions
Law and Ethics at the Beginning V.H. Harpwood
and End of Life
Sheila McLean & Laura Williamson Euthanasia, Ethics and the Law
From the conflict to compromise
Bioethics and the Humanities Richard Huxtable
Attitudes and Perceptions
Robin Downie & Jane Macnaughton The Best Interests of the Child in
Healthcare
DefendingtheGenetic Sarah Elliston
Supermarket
The law and ethics of selection the Values in Medicine
next generation Whatarewereallydoingtopatients?
Colin Gavagham Donald Evans
Autonomy, Consent and the Law Human Population Genetic
Sheila A.M McLean Research in Developing
Countries
HealthcareResearchEthicsandLaw The Issue of Group Protection
Regulation, review and responsibility Yue Wang
Hazel Biggs
Coercive Care
The Body in Bioethics Rights, law and policy
Alastair V. Campbell Bernadette McSherry & Ian Freckelton
Genomic Negligence Saviour Siblings
An interest in autonomy as the basis A relational approach to the
for novel negligence claims welfare of the child in selective
generated by genetic technology reproduction
Victoria Chico Michelle Taylor-Sands
Health Professionals and Trust Forthcoming titles include:
Thecureforhealthcarelawandpolicy
Mark Henaghan Human Population Genetic
Research in Developing
Medical Ethics in China Countries
A transcultural interpretation The issue of group protection
Jing-Bao Nie Yue Wang
Law, Ethics and Compromise at Stem Cell Research and the
the Limits of Life Collaborative Regulation of
To treat or not to treat? Innovation
Richard Huxtable Sarah Devaney
Regulating Pre-Implantation The Jurisprudence of Pregnancy
Genetic Diagnosis Concepts of conflict, persons and
Acomparativeandtheoreticalanalysis property
Sheila A.M McLean & Sarah Elliston Mary Neal
Bioethics Regulating Risk
Methods, theories, domains Values in health research governance
Marcus Düwell Shawn Harmon
About the Series Editor
Professor Sheila McLean is International Bar Association Professor of Law and
EthicsinMedicineandDirectoroftheInstituteofLawandEthicsinMedicineat
the University of Glasgow.
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Saviour Siblings
A Relational Approach to the Welfare of the Child in
Selective Reproduction
Michelle Taylor-Sands
Firstpublished2013
byRoutledge
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AndbyRoutledge
711ThirdAvenue,NewYork,NY10017
RoutledgeisanimprintoftheTaylor&FrancisGroup,aninformabusiness
©2013MichelleTaylor-Sands
TherightofMichelleTaylor-Sandstobeidentifiedasauthorofthisworkhasbeen
assertedbyherinaccordancewithsections77and78oftheCopyright,Designs
andPatentsAct1988.
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereprintedorreproducedorutilised
inanyformorbyanyelectronic,mechanical,orothermeans,nowknownor
hereafterinvented,includingphotocopyingandrecording,orinanyinformation
storageorretrievalsystem,withoutpermissioninwritingfromthepublishers.
Trademarknotice:Productorcorporatenamesmaybetrademarksorregistered
trademarks,andareusedonlyforidentificationandexplanationwithoutintentto
infringe.
BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData
AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData
Taylor-Sands,Michelle.
Savioursiblings:arelationalapproachtothewelfareofthechildinselective
reproduction/MichelleTaylor-Sands.
pagescm.--(Biomedicallawandethicslibrary)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-0-415-53571-7(hbk:alk.paper)--ISBN978-0-203-70870-5
(ebk:alk.paper)1.Procurementoforgans,tissues,etc.--Lawandlegislation.
2.Preimplantationgeneticdiagnosis--Lawandlegislation.3.Humanreproductive
technology--Moralandethicalaspects.4.Humanreproductivetechnology--Law
andlegislation.5.Fertilizationinvitro,Human--Lawandlegislation.6.Brothers
andsisters.7.Biomedicalethics.I.Title.
K3611.T7T392013
176--dc23
2013009263
ISBN:978-0-415-53571-7(hbk)
ISBN:978-0-203-70870-5(ebk)
TypesetinGaramond
byTaylor&FrancisBooks
For my family, past and present
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Contents
Foreword xii
Acknowledgements xviii
List of abbreviations xx
1 Introduction 1
2 Selective reproduction: ethics and the law 6
2.1 Introduction 6
2.2 ‘Designer babies’ 7
2.2.1 Eugenics 8
2.2.2 Slippery slopes 9
2.3 Commodification 12
2.4 Harm 13
2.4.1 Risks of ART and embryo biopsy 14
2.4.2 Risks associated with particular types of selection 15
2.4.3 Better to be born than not 17
2.5 Case study: saviour siblings 20
2.5.1 The process 20
2.5.2 Regulation 21
2.5.3 Lessons from the UK and Australia 25
2.6 A relational approach to the welfare of the child 26
2.7 Conclusion 29
3 The welfare of the child to be born 40
3.1 Introduction 40
3.2 Welfare of the child in ART regulation 41
3.2.1 Origins of the welfare of the child provision in ART
legislation 42
3.2.2 Review of the welfare of the child provision in the UK 43
3.2.3 Review of HFEA policy on the welfare of the child 44
3.2.4 Review of ART regulation in Victoria – a missed
opportunity 46