Law governing Turkey Essay

IVF (in vitro fertilization) refers to treatment for infertility, in which eggs are removed from a woman’s body, fertilized with sperm in a laboratory, and then returned to the womb shortly afterwards to continue developing. IVF has been greatly achieved by the Turkish Medicine community such that even individual mothers and couples from other countries hospitals in go into Turkey in order to get children through this process. The sperms donated by sperm donors undergo screening in order to check their health status and the desirable traits required by most patients (ourbodiesourselves para2). These advances in technologies are not in harmony with the culture and the law governing Turkey. The paces at which the technologies are advancing are greater than the rate at which the society is responding to such changes, especially by those in lower socioeconomic class. But again many people would prefer the idea of surrogate motherhood and oocyte donation to some new techniques that are applied in medical practice today. All over the world, Turkey included, people are still debating on the social and ethical impacts of oocyte donation and surrogacy on the society. According to (Selim, et al 34), not many studies have been carried out in Turkish society to get their views on surrogate motherhood and oocyte donation. But studies that have been conducted with an aim of investigating the ethical dilemmas faced by the Turkish people on in vitro fertilization and oocyte donation have shown that even most infertile married females would still not accept surrogate motherhood and egg donation. Most of them had preferred adoption to IVF method. They reason that, these advancements in medicine are against nature (Selim, Et al 54). Interestingly, many studies carried out in Turkey show that many people agree to oocyte donation. Analysis Ethics is the belief and principles that determine people’s behavior which in turn forms people’s culture. IVF and oocyte donation for a long time has been a topic of debate especially concerning their conflicting values to societal norms and at the same time the need to fulfill patients’ desires to have children. Normally infertile couples can make decision on what they want regarding having children but this is limited the laws that govern reproduction in Turkey. The laws have to be consistent with the socio-cultural and religious values, which in Turkey does not permit certain reproductive treatments. Ethical issues that have risen since this technology came to place include the spread of gay marriages which is against Islamic and Christian teachings and is a threat to moral being of most societies in the world (Jinemed Hospital para 4). Unfortunately, even Lesbian couples and gay men hire surrogates to give birth to their children. This is against the purpose for which the technology was developed. Another issue is the sustainability of most marriages not just in Turkey but in the whole world in general especially in USA where most divorce cases occur. Some women particularly those of high socioeconomic status prefer to stay single because after all there is oocyte donation and they can afford to pay surrogates. Some just do this because she would never want to be seen pregnant or to bear the pain of carrying the baby in her womb. These technologies have serious effects on marriages today since anybody can have a child whether in a relationship or not. Although Turkey does not experience high divorce rates as the USA, but it still poises a problem. The issue about the stability of the family has also been a major concern especially on the side of the surrogate mother comes from. The first surrogate mother in the world, Elizabeth Kane describes her ordeal as surrogate mother to be one of the worst experiences in her life since normally the society has eyes on you and your family. She says that being a surrogate psychologically and emotionally affects the mother, her husband and even their children. It even becomes difficult to think of surrendering the child to the mother due to the emotional attachment between the surrogate mother and the child. She considers being a surrogate to be prostitution (Ourbodiesourselves para 2). Conclusion IVF (in vitro fertilization) and oocyte donation had all the good intentions but its negative impacts were not seriously looked into before putting it into practice for human beings and that is the reason why coming up with a proper and all inclusive legislation has not been possible not only in Turkey but in any country in the world. Just like cloning has been a big issue and threat to humans, IVF might be different but it poses almost the same threat to human beings. Proper legislation is necessary to curb the ethical issues that have been raised by religious communities and the civil society. Again, just like abortion, legislation alone may not contribute much in reconsidering such practices. The most important is the attitude of the people towards such technologies. Works Cited Page Jinemed Hospital: Infertility treatment in Turkey. Intuition Communication Ltd, Istanbul 2010 Retrieved from http://www. treatmentabroad. com/infertility-treatment-abroad/turkey- infertility/jinemed-hospital/ Our Bodies Ourselves: The Politics of Women’s Health. Health Resource Centre, Boston. 2008 Retrieved from http://www. ourbodiesourselves. org/book/companion. asp? id=31&compID=67 Selim; Muharrem; Hakan; Mahir; Gulec; Adnan; Fatma; Ceren and Ozlem et al. Determination of the attitudes of Turkish infertile women towards surrogacy and oocyte donation. Professional Medical Publication, Karachi 2009