Department of Medical Education m/c 591, 808 S. Wood St, University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60612-7308, USA.
J Med Ethics. 2010 Dec;36(12):806-9. doi: 10.1136/jme.2010.037192. Epub 2010 Aug 26.
Researchers are working to derive sperm from banked testicular tissue taken from pre-pubertal boys who face therapies or injuries that destroy sperm production. Success in deriving sperm from this tissue will help to preserve the option for these boys to have genetically related children later in life. For the twin moral reasons of preserving access and equity in regard to having such children, clinicians and researchers are justified in offering the option to the parents of all affected boys. However, some parents may wish to decline the option to bank tissue from their boys because the technique may seem too unfamiliar or unusual, but over time people may become more comfortable with the technique as they have done with other novel assisted reproductive treatments (ARTs). Other parents may wish to decline the option because of moral or religious reasons. A prominent natural law theory holds, for example, that the ARTs that would be involved in using sperm derived from banked tissue to produce a child are morally objectionable. Some parents might not want to bank tissue in order to shield their son from using ARTs they see as objectionable. Clinicians and researchers should respect parents who wish to decline banking tissue, but parents should ordinarily embrace choices that protect the possible interests their sons may have as adult men, including the wish to have genetically related children.
研究人员正在努力从接受过治疗或遭受过损伤而破坏精子生成的青春期前男孩的储存睾丸组织中提取精子。成功地从这种组织中提取精子将有助于保留这些男孩日后生育具有遗传关系的孩子的选择。出于保留生育此类孩子的途径和公平性的双重道德原因，临床医生和研究人员有理由向所有受影响男孩的父母提供这种选择。但是，一些父母可能希望拒绝为其儿子储存组织，因为该技术可能看起来过于陌生或不寻常，但随着时间的推移，人们可能会像接受其他新颖的辅助生殖治疗（ART）一样，对该技术感到更加舒适。其他父母可能会因为道德或宗教原因而拒绝该选择。例如，一种著名的自然法理论认为，使用储存组织中的精子来生育孩子所涉及的 ART 在道德上是不可接受的。一些父母可能不想储存组织，是为了保护他们的儿子免受他们认为不可接受的 ART 影响。临床医生和研究人员应该尊重那些希望拒绝储存组织的父母，但父母通常应该接受保护儿子成年后可能拥有的利益的选择，包括生育具有遗传关系的孩子的愿望。
