An ELSI study about reproductive technology with donated gamete, frozen gamete or gamete made from iPS cells

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26870641
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Medical sociology; New fields of law
• Research Institution: National Cardiovascular Center Research Institute
• Principal Investigator: Toya Waki 国立研究開発法人国立循環器病研究センター, 研究開発基盤センター, 特任研究員 (20584527)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 生殖補助医療技術 / 親族法 / 研究倫理 / iPS細胞 / 配偶子 / 血縁

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The theme of this study is about the widespread use of artificial reproductive technology(ART) and family relationship. I surveyed Japanese law and policy about people of gender identity disorder and their usage of donor insemination in recent years. And if we took gamete made from iPS cells into ART, we must consider the children’s welfare who forced join into medical study before they were born, through reviewing the history of the reproductive technology.
Also I studied direct to consumer DNA paternity testing that has recently become more widely available in Japan. If we come to the conclusion that DNA test results are the only way to conclusively establish a parent-child relationship, then our society may prioritize even more genetic relatedness over other conceptions of a parent-child relationship. This prioritization could adversely affect families created through ART, especially in situations where children are not aware of their biological parentage.

Free Research Field

生命倫理学