Introduction

• Author: Maureen McTeer
• Pages: 1-4

[  ]

Introduction

is book is about assisted human reproduction — its origins, current

status, and future direction — together with the legal framework in which

it operates. It is also about the research that is possible now, and what will

be possible in the future, using human embryos that are created by the

reproductive technology of in vitro fertilization.

Forty years is not a long time, but in those four decades, the evolution

in human reproduction and embryonic research has been unrelenting.

is book will look at both, along with their uniqueness and their inter-

relatedness, as they build seamlessly together, raising questions about how

we as a society want to dene being human in this twenty-rst century

and beyond. It is written principally as an informational tool for the lay

public, including the legislators who will decide future public policy and

laws in these areas.

THE BACKGROUND

e rst human interventions into this area were made in response to

fertility problems experienced by women who wanted to become preg-

nant but had been unsuccessful. Articial insemination was the initial

response, with a man’s sperm being delivered directly to the woman’s

cervix or uterus. Following this came in vitro fertilization (hereinafter

referred to as IVF), in which the ovum and sperm were united in a