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Project

Third party reproduction: between social and genetic parenthood.

The main goal of this research project is to perform a fundamental analysis of the concepts of genetic and social parenthood, given the fact that the practice of the donation of gametes and embryos is inextricably linked to the importance of what constitutes motherhood and fatherhood. Recognizing the complex character of this research question, we will develop it from a multidisciplinary perspective elaborated in three parts: a fundamental ethical analysis, systematic reviews, and an empirical study. In the first part of the research project, we want to investigate what exactly constitutes being a parent from an ethical and anthropological perspective. In the second part we will systematically review the existing empirical data related to genetic and social parenthood of a number of relevant stakeholders. The recipient parent offspring wont be a focus in our reviews, because a systematic review has been carried out already . Firstly, we will perform a review on the relational satisfaction of recipients after TPR. In a second review we will focus on the wellbeing of the donors. In the third part we will set up an empirical study which deals specifically with the concepts of genetic and social parenthood. As was clarified earlier, the theme of biological versus social parenthood, and in particular the fact that in TPR at least one of the parents lacks a genetic tie with the child, forms the basis of many concerns formulated in literature.
Date:1 Jan 2009 →  31 Dec 2012
Keywords:Third party reproduction, Medical Ethics, Genetic parenthood, Donor gametes
Disciplines:Ethics, Other philosophy, ethics and religious studies not elsewhere classified, Laboratory medicine, Medical systems biology, Molecular and cell biology, Endocrinology and metabolic diseases, Gynaecology and obstetrics, Nursing