Technology_Discussion

Reproductive technology Reproductive technology is a general term referring to the methods used to achieve pregnancy by artificial or partially artificial means. It is also used to treat infertility. There are many different types of reproductive technologies. The three different types of reproductive technology that will be discussed are: Artificial insemination by donor, surrogacy and adoption. To begin with artificial insemination by donor is external fertilisation in which a syringe is used to inject sperm from a male donor into the mother using an instrument called a laparoscope. An advantage of artificial insemination by donor is that its success rate is high and as a result of this more couples can successfully have a child. An example of this would be if a male’s sperm had no tale then they would not be able to swim to the female egg. On the other hand artificial insemination by donor has many disadvantages. One disadvantage is that the child will grow up not knowing who their biological father is therefore this child will grow up only to know half or their genetic history and half of their genes. For instance in a clickview viewed by the class 10S0 there were 4 girls talking about how they wish hay would meet their fathers or even know anything about him e.g. his age or profession. The second type of reproductive technology to be discussed is surrogacy. Surrogacy is External fertilisation in which the egg from the biological mother and the biological father are combined in a test tube. The resulting embryo is then out into a surrogate mother’s womb to develop into a baby. A positive outcome of this is that it allows the mother to have child/children despite physical obstacles that prevents her from carrying her own to term. Consequently the parents would still have a child that is biologically theirs. Examples include if the mother has any medical, genetic or social reason not to carry this baby then she will most definitely need a surrogate mother. On the contrary surrogacy has many weaknesses. One of them being that the surrogate mother may want to keep the child/baby. Although a contract with the surrogate mother exists it the surrogate changes her mind she may keep it depending on the situation. Different states do different things. An example of this is in the UK a judge ruled a surrogate mother allowed to keep the baby being 6 months old at the time on the 20th of January 2011. The judge said "In particular, the natural process of carrying and giving birth to a baby creates an attachment which may be so strong that the surrogate mother finds herself unable to give up the child," The last type of reproductive technology that will be discussed is adoption. Adoption is when the biological offspring or one set of parents is raised by another set of parents who have no biological offspring of one set of parents is raised by another set of parents who have no biological connection to the child. An advantage of adoption is that the parents know what they are getting in terms of the sex or the baby. This means that they know what to expect and they can be ready for the baby in terms of clothes, toys and the baby’s room. But as with everything else there is the disadvantage to adoption. One of these is that the child will have identity problems whilst growing up as they are not biologically connected to their parents who have raised them up. Therefore the child might feel left out socially as they might be the only one or one of the only ones to not know anything about their biological parents. For example if a child is adopted into a family with biological children then the adopted child may feel left out in the family as they aren’t biological connect to the rest. In conclusion, there are many advantages and disadvantages to the different types of reproductive technology.