Skip to main content
Article
Constructing 'Health', Defining 'Choice': Legal and Policy Perspetives on the Post-PGD Embryo in Four Jurisdictions
Medical Law International 9:1 (2008), p. 45-92
  • Estair Van Wagner, Osgoode Hall Law School of York University
  • Roxanne Mykitiuk, Osgoode Hall Law School of York University
  • Jeff Nisker
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2008
Keywords
  • Health,
  • Value/quality of life,
  • Sex predetermination/preselection,
  • In vitro fertilization and embryo transfer,
  • Genetic counseling/prenatal diagnosis
Abstract

Through Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis, embryos created by IVF are selected for transfer to a woman based on particular characterisations, including the presence of genetic markers or a tissue match for a sibling. In this paper we examine the precise language used in the recent policy and regulatory documents of four jurisdictions (the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and New Zealand) that in any way characterises the post-PGD embryo. We then explore the mutually constructed relationship between how that embryo is characterised and the purposes for which PGD is applied, as well as the types of uses to which the post-PGD embryo is ultimately relegated. As our analysis indicates, based on the information provided through PGD, a number of possible categorisations of the post-PGD embryo emerge depending both on the outcome of PGD, and the initial intention behind the procedure.

Citation Information
Van Wagner, Estair, and Roxanne Mykitiuk. "Constructing 'Health', Defining 'Choice': Legal and Policy Perspetives on the Post-PGD Embryo in Four Jurisdictions." Medical Law International 9.1 (2008): 45-92.