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In the Netherlands, the director of a sperm bank could be responsible for the birth of 60 children
In the Netherlands, the former director of a sperm bank near Rotterdam, who recently died, is accused of having donated his own sperm. Jan Karbaat could be responsible for the birth of 60 children born through in-vitro fertilisation (IVF). He is also accused of...
Over 800 people have undergone euthanasia in Canada in six months
Six months after "medically assisted dying" was legalised in Canada, the Government has published an "initial interim report" on this "service": between 17 June and 31 December 2016, 803 people opted for medically assisted dying, which accounted for 0.6% of all the...
Surrogacy legislation under debate in Russia
The first child conceived through surrogacy in Russia was born in 1995. In this country, "surrogacy" is considered "to be one way of increasing the birth rate in the light of a worrying demographic situation". It is available to married and unmarried heterosexual...
Transplanted children are more prone to develop cancer
A study carried out by the US National Cancer Institute (NCI) and involving almost 18,000 young people has shown that children who undergo organ transplantation are more exposed to the risk of cancer than the rest of the population. However, the study emphasises the...
Post-euthanasia organ donation encouraged in Belgium for “virtually brain-dead” donors
In Belgium, "voices are starting to be heard in favour of post-euthanasia organ donation", with a view to offering organs to the 1,500 people on the waiting list. In this context, Doctor Jan Bollen from Maastricht University Medical Centre, has carried out a study to...
Placed in a medically-induced coma but aware of what was going on around her, she remembers doctors wanting to switch off her life support machine
On 14 March 2015, 40 year-old Jenny collapsed with pain. "She felt pins and needles in her legs" - a condition diagnosed by her doctor as "Guillain-Barre syndrome". He wrote a letter to the hospital that Jenny would attend, informing the hospital practitioners...
Artificial womb or placenta? Research goes back to the 50s
Last week, French media strongly echoed an American publication describing the development of premature lambs in an “artificial womb”. For Gènéthique, Jacques Suaudeau provided an analysis of the announcement, replacing it in its rightful context. He believes...
Reference point for a bioethical review of François Hollande’s mandate
As the French president’s mandate is coming to its end, it makes sense to do a bioethics stocktaking[1]. Jean Marie Le Méné, President of the Jérôme Lejeune Foundation speaks of the broad patterns that have emerged from François Hollande’s mandate. Gènéthique:...
End of life: “All lives are worthy of being saved”
Tetraplegic for thirty-three years since a "devastating stroke", Maryannick Pavageau "has a natural authority, an air of sympathy which immediately eliminates any feeling of compassion or pity". This wife and mother " has succeeded in transforming the burden of...
Sperm trafficking detected on the border between Thailand and Laos
Caught on the border between Thailand and Laos with bottles of sperm stored in a nitrogen tank, a trafficker was fined for violation of the law banning the export of reproductive tissue. According to one official, " [it's] the 13th time he has been caught...
In Italy, MPs adopt the “biological will” law
In Italy, the Chamber of Deputies has just adopted "biological will" legislation. The law allows any adult to draft or record a video of anticipated provisions in which he/she specifies his/her end-of-life wishes. These wishes can be revised and revoked. ...
“Shared motherhood” debated before the ECHR
The European Court of Human Rights must rule on the refusal of the German authorities to accept "recognition of double motherhood arising from 'shared motherhood' " in a civil partnership agreement between two women. The issue of "shared motherhood "...