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Status of the human body
Between hope and organ shortage, uterus transplants raise ethical questions
Author / Source : EIB Published on : Thematic : Status of the human body News Temps de lecture : 1 min.
The procedure began in 2018, when the uterus of a brain-dead donor was transplanted into a woman suffering from Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser syndrome. This syndrome is characterised by the total or partial absence of a vagina and an underdeveloped or non-existent uterus. To achieve pregnancy in these conditions, embryos were conceived by in vitro fertilisation prior to the transplant and subsequently re-implanted once doctors had established that the transplanted uterus had not been...
The Netherlands: opening of foetal biobank has led to surge in donations of foetal tissue after abortion
Author / Source : EIB Published on : Thematic : Status of the human body News Temps de lecture : 2 min.
According to a study published in 2024 in the Journal of the American Medical Association, donations of foetal tissue after abortion have increased significantly in the Netherlands, from 1.2% (8 donations out of 663 abortions) to 21.7% (132 donations out of 609 abortions), following the creation of a Dutch foetal biobank. For the authors of the study, incorporating donation options into post-abortion advice could ‘ethically improve tissue acquisition for continued medical progress’.
Organ donation after euthanasia: Altruism to mask utilitarianism?
Author / Source : EIB Published on : Thematic : Status of the human body News Temps de lecture : 3 min.
The 10th ‘Sympadot’ symposium, organised on 21 November by the Transplantation Department of Brussels University Hospital (Erasme), focused on organ donation and transplantation. Among the topics discussed was the deliberately provocative question: ‘Euthanasia, a pathway to the futur? According to the speakers, the aim is to promote an ‘end-of-life project’ that would include organ donation. Is this an attempt to promote an altruistic gesture to divert...
Access to origins: Belgian law deems gamete donor anonymity unconstitutional
Author / Source : EIB Published on : Thematic : Status of the human body News Temps de lecture : 2 min.
After the birth of two daughters conceived through artificial reproduction with a gamete donor, a woman asked the fertilization center for access to the donor's identifying and non-identifying information, without any medical reason. When UZ Brussel refused, the mother and one of her daughters turned to the Brussels Court of First Instance. The 2007 law “relating to medically assisted procreation and the destination of supernumerary embryos and gametes” stipulates that a...
Cryopreservation of embryos: Study highlights ethical issues involved in their preservation and inevitable destruction
Author / Source : EIB Published on : Thematic : Status of the human body News Temps de lecture : 2 min.
According to a study published last June, the number of human embryos cryopreserved following artificial reproduction has reached a record level in the UK. Published in The New Bioethics, the study analysed data provided by the UK Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) between 1991 and 2019. The figures show that at least 130,000 stored embryos have been destroyed in the UK since 1991. This situation, already problematic in itself, is particularly so in the UK, where legislation...
End of puberty blockers for minors: England reviews its treatment of gender dysphoria
Author / Source : IEB Published on : Thematic : Status of the human body News Temps de lecture : 2 min.
In 2021-2022, there were more than 5,000 referrals to the Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) run by Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust (compared with 250 in 2011-2012). In response to this increase in cases, the NHS has asked Dr Hilary Cass, former President of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, to conduct an independent review of gender services for minors. In 2022, an interim report from this study warned of the dangers of systematically prescribing puberty...
Gender reassignment: more and more Belgian teenagers are being prescribed puberty blockers
Author / Source : IEB Published on : Thematic : Status of the human body News Temps de lecture : 1 min.
More and more teenagers in Belgium are taking puberty blockers to halt the sexual development of their bodies during adolescence. In just three years, 60% more of them have been prescribed these hormone treatments by their doctors, in an attempt to relieve the unease they feel about their biological sex. They are 684 young people between the ages of 9 and 17 in 2022, compared with 432 in 2019, reveals a survey carried out by the De Morgen (24/01/2024). Half of them are being treated at the...
From induced death to useful death: increasing organ donation after euthanasia in Quebec
Author / Source : EIB Published on : Thematic : Status of the human body News Temps de lecture : 1 min.
This development raises questions about the confusion that is developing around these two practices, which have completely different, if not irreconcilable, moral values. Little by little, the altruism of organ donation ends up masking the serious attack on the life and dignity of the person being euthanised. Far from being alarmed by this utilitarian shift, Dr Matthew Weiss, medical director of organ donation at Transplant Québec and author of the study, would like to increase...