Do parents have a duty to use IVF and PGD?

BioEdge: Two bioethicists contend that some parents are morally obligated to use pre-implantation genetic diagnosis to create a healthy baby. Janet Malek, of East Carolina University, and Judith F. Daar, of Whittier Law School, in California, argue that eventually the law should and will impose “a duty on IVF-reproducing parents to maximize the well-being of their future offspring by all reasonable means.” Why? The authors cite three reasons: increasing the child’s well-being, expanding his or her self-determination, and reducing inequalities.

Malek and Daar’s article was critiqued by a number of other bioethicists in the same issue of American Journal of Bioethics. Some felt that they did not go far enough. All parents at risk of conceiving a sick child have a duty to use IVF and PGD, argue bioethicist Rosalind Ladd, of Wheaton College, and Edwin Forman, of Mt Sinai Medical School.

Related: Is PGD safe?