[Desire for a child and desired children--possibilities and limits of reproductive biomedicine].

Unlabelled: Definition of problem:

Background: Reproductive Biomedicine and new reproductive technologies (ART) belong to the fields of medicine that initiated most of the discussion on enhancement and desire fulfilling medicine in bioethics during the last years. One of the crucial questions to be answered is the definition of the right to procreate/right for a genetically related child. Closely connected are controversial opinions in regard to the definition of sterility as a disease/illness, or a mere fate, or malfunction, which does not have to be medically cured.

What is the preimplantation embryo?

We present results from our 'bioethical field studies', which explore and compare the views of experts, patients and the general public on the beginning of human life and the status of the preimplantation embryo in Germany. Using a qualitative and quantitative multi-method approach, we found crucial differences in the categorization of the beginning of human life within the expert group (representative samples of human geneticists n=104, ethicists n=168, midwives n=294, obstetricians n=147, paediatricians n=166), and between expert and lay samples (IVF couples n=108, high genetic risk couples n=324, general population n=1017). The majority of lay respondents as well as paediatricians and obstetricians chose nidation, the moment when the implantation of the fertilized egg into the uterus takes place, as the crucial boundary that marks the beginning of human life, whereas the majority of (female) human geneticists, ethicists and midwives voted for conception as the decisive point in time.

Public, expert and patients' opinions on preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) in Germany.

The regulation of reproductive medicine technologies differs significantly among Western industrialized countries. In Germany, preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) is prohibited due to the Embryo Protection Act, which came into force in 1991. In the last 5 years, this prohibition has been vigorously debated.