Abstract:
Almost all countries and fertility clinics impose age limits on women who want to become pregnant through Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART). Age limits for aspiring fathers, however, are much less common and remain a topic of debate. This article departs from the principle of reproductive autonomy and a conditional positive right to receive ART, and asks whether there are convincing arguments to also impose age limits on aspiring fathers. After considering three consequentialist approaches to justifying age limits for aspiring fathers, we take in a concrete normative stance by concluding that those are not strong enough to justify such cut-offs. We reinforce our position by drawing a comparison between the case of a 39-year-old woman who wants to become a single mother via a sperm donor on the one hand, and on the other hand the same woman who wants to have a child with a 64-year-old man who she loves and who is willing to care for the child as long as he is able to. We conclude that, as long as appropriate precautions are taken to protect the welfare of the future child, couples who want to receive fertility treatment should never be limited on the basis of the age of the (male) partner. An absence of age limits for men would respect the reproductive autonomy of both the man and the woman.
摘要:
几乎所有国家和生育诊所都对希望通过辅助生殖技术(ART)怀孕的妇女施加年龄限制。有抱负的父亲的年龄限制,然而,不太常见,仍然是一个辩论的话题。本文从生殖自主权和有条件的积极接受ART的原则出发,并询问是否有令人信服的论据对有抱负的父亲施加年龄限制。在考虑了三种结果主义方法来证明有抱负的父亲的年龄限制后,我们采取具体的规范立场,认为这些立场不足以证明这种切断是合理的。我们通过比较一名39岁的女性想要通过精子捐赠者成为单身母亲的案例来加强我们的立场,另一方面,同一个女人想和一个她爱的64岁男人生孩子,只要他有能力,他就愿意照顾孩子。我们的结论是,只要采取适当的预防措施来保护未来儿童的福利,希望接受生育治疗的夫妇绝不应根据(男性)伴侣的年龄受到限制。对男性没有年龄限制将尊重男性和女性的生殖自主权。