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4 Stud. Ethics L. & Tech. 1 (2010)

handle is hein.journals/selt4 and id is 1 raw text is: Cutas and Bortolotti: Natural versus Assisted Reproduction 1. Introduction Whilst the choice of becoming a parent in the natural way is unregulated all over Europe (and proposals of regulation raise vehement objections), most European countries have (either legal or professional) regulations imposing criteria that people must satisfy if they wish to gain access to assisted reproduction and parenting. These criteria may include relationship status, age, sexual orientation, financial stability, health, and willingness to attend parenting classes. The existence of regulations in this area is largely accepted, and the objections raised usually concern the suitability of specific criteria rather than the legitimacy of imposing criteria at all. The inequality (if unsupported) could be solved by requiring both prospective natural and assisted parents to satisfy the same criteria (with some qualifications specified below) and, more importantly, to be subject to the same degree of monitoring, regardless of the way in which they became parents. Often people argue that proposals to regulate natural reproduction revive dreaded eugenic policies of the past, and that their implementation would violate some of our most cherished interests and rights: in particular the interest in becoming a parent and the right to reproduction and parenting. However, the same interests and rights are not equally safeguarded when one needs assistance to become a parent, and proposals to reduce the extent to which prospective parents requiring assistance are scrutinized are unpopular. In this paper we challenge the alleged justification of the current practices, and we show that there are serious inconsistencies in the treatment of, respectively, people who become parents naturally and people who require assistance to become parents. Thus, we propose that regulation of reproduction and parenting be revised in such a way as to eliminate the inconsistencies. Before we enter the debate, a few clarifications are needed. The term natural reproduction refers to cases in which people become parents without assistance, and assisted reproduction refers to cases where prospective parents need assistance via reproductive technologies or social intervention (e.g. adoption, custody, or foster care). Adoption, custody and foster care have characteristics that distinguish them from both natural and medically assisted reproduction. Foster care is 'semi-parenting' in that it does not create permanent parent-child relationships, but rather is aimed at providing temporary care for children; for this reason, it may be regarded as something other than parenting. Custody cases frequently involve two or more adults who seek permanent entrusting of one or more children and need to turn to another person's authority to resolve the conflict. The assumption is that decisions are to be based on the best interests of the offspring. 1

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