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Presentation
at the 1st Ethics Scientific Day, King Fahad Medical City organized
by the Ethics Committee on 27th May 2014 by Professor Omar Hasan
Kasule Sr MB ChB (MUK), MPH (Harvard), DrPH (Harvard) Chairman of the KFMC
Ethics Committee
CASE #1 An infertile couple was in the midst of an IVF procedure when the
husband died soon after his semen was frozen. The wife wanted to obtain the
semen and have a baby by a surrogate mother. A former wife also wanted the
semen because she had a girl with leukemia who needed a compatible bone marrow
donor, preferably a sister.
CASE #2 A recently married woman continued taking oral contraceptives
prescribed for menstrual irregularities. Her husband wanted his wife to
discontinue her contraception because he wanted to start a family immediately,
but the wife refused.
CASE #3 A 14 year-old girl was admitted to the
hospital for an abortion. She was two months pregnant from what she claimed was
rape. The family was distraught and wanted the doctors to carry out the
abortion immediately. The physicians were reluctant because there was no
medical reason.
CASE #4 A couple who had eight girls in successive pregnancies desperately
wished a boy. They decided to try IVF with selection of male gametes. The
obstetricians refused because there was no medical indication since the couple
had no problem in conceiving.
CASE #5 A child whose external appearance was female and had been brought
up as a girl was taken to the hospital at 14 years of age because of delayed
menstruation. The internal gonads and chromosomal patterns were male. The
parents wanted a gender reassignment operation to conform to the genetic
profile. The child refused to change from her familiar female identity.
CASE #6 A middle-aged woman without any medical condition asked her
physician for hormonal treatment to appear younger. The physician refused
because he judged the risk of cardiovascular and cancer complications to be
more than the benefits.
CASE #7 A 14 year-old girl with cancer requiring chemotherapy was advised
to have her ova removed and put in cold storage for the duration of the
treatment. Her parents refused the procedure because they did not believe in
IVF and she was not yet married.