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Where am I now? Lawlink > Law Reform Commission > Publications > Discussion Paper 15 (1987) - Artificial Conception: In Vitro Fertilization

Discussion Paper 15 (1987) - Artificial Conception: In Vitro Fertilization


TABLE OF CONTENTS

Terms of Reference
Artificial Conception Reference Publications
Table of Abbreviations
Glossary
Forward
Participants
Summary
Membership of the Commission


PART I - BACKGROUND

CHAPTER 1: AN OVERVIEW
I. In Vitro Fertilization and Infertility
II. Treatment of Tubal Infertility and Development of IVF

    A. Introduction
    B. Development of IVF and ET
    C. The Recent Past
III. Current Indications for IVF Footnotes

CHAPTER 2: THE PRACTICE OF IVF
I. IVF IN “THE MOST COMMON SITUATION”
    A. Introduction
    B. Selection of Patients and Counselling
    C. Beginning a Treatment Cycle
    D. Ova Recovery
    E. Assessment of Semen and IVF
    F. Embryo Transfer (ET)
    G. Post-ET Management
    H. IVF Success Rates
    I. Costs
II. Cryopreservation of Reproductive Tissues
    A. 1. Why Preservation is Practiced
    2. How it is Done
    B. Semen
    C. Ova
III. Donation of Reproductive Tissues
    A. The Fertilized Ovum
    B. Semen
    C. Ova
Footnotes

CHAPTER 3: THE CURRENT STATE OF IVF REGULATION
I. Application of Pre-Existing Law to IVF Technology
    A. Introduction
    B. Paternity and Maternity
    C. Legal Status of the Pre-Implantation Embryo
    D. Ownership and Control of Reproductive Tissues
II. Australian Statutory Responses to IVF Technology
    A. “Status of Children” Legislation
    B. General Regulation of IVF Procedures
III. Non-Legislative Regulation of IVF
    A. The National Health and Medical Research Council
    B. Statutory Regulation and Professional Self-Regulation
Footnotes

CHAPTER 4: ARTIFICIAL CONCEPTION - THE DEBATE
I. Public Opinion
    A. Role of Public Opinion
    B. Survey Information on IVF
    C. Our Approach
II. An Overview of the Public Debate
    A. Introduction
    B. Some Objections to IVF
    1. Improper separation of procreation from Sexual Love
    2. Unnatural and Dehumanizing Practices
    3. Discarded Conceptuses
    4. Incidence of Fetal Abnormalities
    5. Psychological Consequences
    6. Misallocation of Resources
    7. Experimentation on Women's Bodies
    8. Towards the “Brave New World”?
Footnotes

PART II - ISSUES FOR REFORM

CHAPTER 5: REGULATION OF THE PRACTICE OF IVF AND ASSOCIATED PROCEDURES
I. The Basic Questions
II. Facts and Factors
III. The Options for Regulation
    A. The Basic Questions
    1. Should IVF be totally prohibited?
    2. Should IVF be regulated at all?
    3. What should be the nature and extent of regulation?
    B. Recommendations of Other Inquiries
    1. The United Kingdom Report
    2. The Victorian Inquiry
    3. The Ontario Report
    C. A Possible Model
IV. Issues for Reform Footnotes

CHAPTER 6: IVF SERVICES - AVAILABILITY AND ELIGIBILITY
I. Overview
    A. The Question
    B. Public Opinion
    C. The Law
II. Our Approach
III. Issues for Reform Footnotes

CHAPTER 7: DONATION AND STORAGE OF REPRODUCTIVE TISSUES
I. Introduction
II. Maternity, Paternity and Registration of Birth
III. Inheritance and Succession
    A. Introduction
    B. Posthumous Use of Stored Gametes
    C. Posthumous Use of Stored Embryos
IV. Dominion, Ownership and Control
    A. Property in Human Tissue
    B. Control or Dominion Over Human Tissue
    C. Storage and Disposal of Gametes
    D. Storage and Disposal of Conceptuses
V. Issues for Reform
    A. Maternity, Paternity and Registration of Birth
    B. Inheritance and Succession
    C. Dominion, Ownership and Control
Footnotes

CHAPTER 8: RESEARCH, EXPERIMENTATION AND IVF
I. Status of the ovum Fertilized In Vitro
    A. Background
    B. Anatomical and Physiological Characteristics
    C. Legal and Moral Status of the IVF Embryo
II. Research on Human Subjects and the IVF Embryo
    A. Purpose and justification
    B. International and National Regulation of Research on Humans
    C. Some Official Inquiries and Research on IVF
    1. National Health and Medical Research Council
    2. The Victorian Inquiry
    3. The United Kingdom Report
    4. The United Kingdom - Voluntary Licensing Authority (VLA)
    5. The Ontario Report
    6. The Australian Senate Select Committee Inquiry
III. A Summary of the Debate on IVF Research and Some Tentative Conclusions.
    A. Arguments for Restriction of Research
    B. The “capacity” or “Potential” Argument
    C. The “spare embryo” argument
    D. Our Conclusion on the Debate
IV. The Difficulties of Regulation
V. Time limits on Research
VI. Tentative Conclusions
VII. Issues for Reform
Footnotes

CHAPTER 9: CREATING AND KEEPING IVF RECORDS
I. Introduction
II. Access to IVF Records
    A. Non-Identifying Information
    B. Identifying Information
    1. The Issue
    2. “The Most Common Situation”
    3. IVF Using Donor Sperm
    4. IVF Using Donor Ova
    5. IVF Using Donor Sperm and Ova
III. Creating and Keeping IVF Records
    A. General
    B. The Record Keeper
    C. Duration of Record Retention
    D. Record Keepers' Duty to Inform
    E. Retrospectivity of Legislation
IV. Issues For Reform
    A. Access to IVF Records
    B. Creating and Keeping IVF Records
Footnotes

CHAPTER 10: CONSENTS, COUNSELLING AND LEGAL LIABILITY
I. Consents
    A. Introduction
    B. Consent to IVF by the Female Patient
    C. Consent to IVF by Husband or Partner of Recipient
    D. Consent to Gamete Donation
II. Counselling
III. Legal Liability of Parties to IVF
    A. General
    B. Provision of False or Misleading Information by a Donor
    C. Wrongful Birth and Wrongful Life
    D. The Relationship of Doctor and Donor
IV. Issues for Reform
    A. Consents
    B. Counselling
    C. Legal Liability of Parties to IVF
Footnotes

CHAPTER 11: AN ADVISORY COMMITTEE
I. Introduction
II. Other Approaches
    A. Introduction
    B. Commonwealth and National
    1. National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)
    2. Family Law Council
    3. The Senate Select Committee on the Human Embryo Experimentation Bill 1985
    4. National Round Table Conference 1986
    5. National Momentum
    C. Victoria
    D. United Kingdom
    E. France
III. Our Tentative Approach
    A. The Need for Monitoring
    B. National and State Approaches
    C. Purpose of the Committee
    D. Functions of the Committee
    E. A Wider Brief for the Committee
    F. Some Essential Requirements
IV. Issues for Reform
Footnotes


Appendix A - Select Bibliography
Appendix B - Table of Statutes
Appendix C - Table of Cases


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