Assisted reproduction for postmenopausal women

Abstract

With increasing longevity, an ageing population and advances in assisted reproductive technologies (ART), a greater number of women are deciding to have a child and become a mother in their later years. With this social and demographic change, an important social and ethical debate has emerged over whether single and/or married postmenopausal women should have access to ARTs. The aim of this paper is to address this question and review critically the arguments that have been advanced to support or oppose the use of ART by older women.

The arguments presented consider the consequences for the individual, the family and wider society. They cover the potential physical and emotional harm to the older woman, the possible impact on the welfare and wellbeing of the future child, and the impact on the norms, values, customs and traditions of society. After reviewing the evidence, and weighing the opposing arguments, this paper concludes that there is no moral justification for a restriction on the use of ART by postmenopausal women. Allowing access to ART for postmenopausal women is an extension of reproductive autonomy and procreative rights in an age where the promotion of agency, autonomy, individual choice and human rights is paramount.

Keywords::

• Reproductive autonomy
• reproductive rights
• assisted reproduction
• menopause
• parenthood
• ageism
• medical infertility
• social infertility

Declaration of interest: The author reports no declarations of interest. The author alone is responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

Notes

¹The reason for imposing this restriction was most likely a combination of a benevolent desire to reduce the risk of harm to the woman and a financial desire to reduce the cost of providing a service for a non-essential treatment that had a very low success rate.

²There may be legitimate reasons for imposing controls, restrictions and legislation on how, how much and where the technology is used (for example, prescription only medication or controls on the use of antibiotics to slow the spread of antibiotic resistance). However, the principle of technology transfer states that the techno logy should be made available for appropriate purposes, when clinical trials, or other appropriate studies, have shown that there is a benefit.