Reproductive technology implies choice – choice to manage infertility, to engage with science, and to experience parenthood in ways that may otherwise not be possible. It means controversy, disagreement, and challenging of personal beliefs and morals. It means choice not to utilize reproductive technologies if one doesn’t agree with it.
Impact can be both positive and negative, depending on the individual and their beliefs. Positive in the sense of allowing an individual to become a parent when this otherwise wouldn’t have likely been possible, and negative in the sense too of this individual feeling “weaker than” and as though their bodies are flawed due to reliance on science.
It produces mixed emotions for most individuals and is neither good nor bad – it’s an option to consider or not. Just like treatments for cancer and other conditions no one “asks for,” it’s an option to give life.
Having a close friend experience the lows of infertility and the highs of becoming a mother to twin boys, I know reproductive technology has had a significantly positive impact on not just her life, but the two young boys she is raising. They’re lucky to have a mother like her.
Written by: A Clinical Psychologist