Interview: The Global Trade in Reproduction
By Carmel Shalev,
BioEdge
| 09. 20. 2014
Untitled Document
Dr Carmel Shalev, of Israel’s Haifa University, is organising a session on helpful and harmful practices in the ethics and regulation of inter-country medically assisted reproduction in Jerusalem in January. It will be part of the 10th World Conference on Bioethics, Medical Ethics and Health Law.
Untitled Document
BioEdge: “inter-country medically assisted reproduction” – do you basically mean a market for surrogate mothers and babies?
Shalev: Yes, that’s a major concern, but not the only one. For example, there is also a market in inter-country egg donations. The problem is that there have been too many cases of harm to children and to the third-party women who agree to take part in reproductive collaborations for the benefit of others, as genetic mothers (egg providers) and birth mothers (surrogate mothers).
What are the “products” in the market?
The products in surrogacy are children. In other practices the products are human gametes (eggs and sperm) and embryos (fertilised eggs). Unfortunately, women are being used as a means of production, and objectified in the process.
How much has...
Related Articles
By Annika Inampudi, Science | 08.01.2025
In June, Sara* received a message asking whether she wanted to continue to participate in a massive, multicenter research project led by scientists at Aarhus University in Denmark. The iPsych study, the message said, had sequenced her genetic data from...
The Center for Genetics and Society is delighted to recommend the current edition of GMWatch Review – Number 589. UK-based GMWatch, a long-standing ally, was founded in 1998 by Jonathan Matthews as an independent organization seeking to counter the enormous corporate political power and propaganda of the GMO industry and its supporters. Matthews and Claire Robinson are its directors and managing editors.
CGS works to ensure that social justice, equity, human rights, and democratic governance are front...
By Harry Hunter, PET BioNews | 08.11.2025
The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology has announced plans to publish a POSTnote and called for submissions on surrogacy law in the UK and internationally.
The current UK surrogacy laws, largely based on legislation from the 1980s, have been...
By Molly Gray, Nuffield Council on Bioethics | 08.13.2025
Human embryo at about 8 weeks
by Anatomist90, CC3.0
With debate growing around whether the “14-day rule” on human embryo research remains fit for purpose, the need for inclusive public dialogue is more important than ever. Decisions about whether...
