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Case by Professor Omar Hasan Kasule Sr. for Year 3 Semester 1 Medical PPSD session on 09th August 2008
Background
Mr and Mrs X had been married for 10 years but failed to conceive naturally. They decided to try IVF. During preliminary tests Mrs X was found to have the SS genotype for sickle cell but the condition had not manifested clinically all her adult life. Since the father had an AS genotype, a decision was made to seek a paid ovum donor who had normal hemoglobin. Before an ovum donor was found, Mr X was involved in a car accident that left him unconscious and was later declared to be in a persistent vegetative state (PVS). The wife asked the hospital to remove semen from him and use it in the IVF procedure. The donor who was found had an AA genotype, had a history of psychiatric illness, insisted that the child should know her, and that she should be paid USD10,000. Mrs X also insisted on pre-implantation genetic testing to rule out the AS genotype in the offspring. The hospital was not sure of what to do in the face of so many complications and lack of consent from Mr X. The first wife of Mr X who had a girl from him before their divorce 15 years ago heard about Mr X’s frozen semen when the newspapers reported the court case brought by the hospital seeking legal guidance on what to do. She made an application to the court to allow her to use some of the semen in an IVF procedure in an attempt at having a baby that could be a source of compatible bone marrow to treat multiple myeloma in her child. She applied for court approval of pre-implantation genetic testing and tissue matching as well as for gender selection because she wanted a girl and not a boy.
Discussion
- List and explain ethico-legal issues in this case
- Imagine you are the judge in this case. What would be your decisions? Give yiur ethical and legal reasoning