Should older women be offered in vitro fertilisation?
Tony Hope, Gill Lockwood, Michael Lockwood In most discussions of the ethics of fertility treatment it is claimed that the interests of the potential child are of major if not paramount importance. The practical significance of this consideration has been grossly overestimated Contrary to conventional wisdom, the interests of the potential child hardly ever constitute an adequate reason for withholding fertility treatment. Modern fertility treatments became the focus of much media attention in 1993 after the widely publicised case in which a 59 year old woman was enabled to give birth to twins by means of in vitro fertilisation with donated eggs and her partner’s sperm. Fertility treatments raise a wide range of ethical and social issues. We focus on one specific issue: the interests and welfare of the potential child. These factors are often cited as important reasons for withholding fertility treatment. We contend that they are almost never relevant, and moreover, we support a wider
