School of Philosophical, Historical and International Studies, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia.
Monash Bioethics Centre, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia.
Bioethics. 2021 Sep;35(7):608-614. doi: 10.1111/bioe.12868. Epub 2021 May 4.
In order to avoid the implication that 'mitochondrial replacement techniques' (MRT) would produce 'three parent babies', discourses around these techniques typically dismiss the contribution of the mitochondria to genetic parenthood and personal identity. According to many participants in debates about MRT, 'real parenthood' is a matter of contributing nuclear DNA, which in turn implies that men and women make the same contribution to the embryo. Even when the importance of the mitochondria is acknowledged, an emphasis on mitochondrial DNA still has the effect of valorizing the role of DNA (and thus the paternal contribution to conception) at the expense of the role played by the cytoplasm of the oocyte in the development of the embryo and placenta, and that of the mother's body in gestation. In this way, discourses around MRT falsely imply that what men and women contribute to reproduction and parenthood is the same-nuclear DNA-and thus erase the distinctive contribution that women make to conception. The potential of MRT to reconfigure relationships between the sexes in the service of patriarchal norms is perhaps one of the most significant things about it and should, we argue, be counted in the discussion of the ethical and policy implications of legitimating these procedures.
为避免“线粒体替代技术”（MRT）产生“三亲婴儿”的暗示，围绕这些技术的论述通常否定线粒体对遗传父母身份和个人身份的贡献。根据关于 MRT 辩论的许多参与者的观点，“真正的父母身份”是核 DNA 贡献的问题，这反过来又意味着男性和女性对胚胎做出了相同的贡献。即使承认线粒体的重要性，对线粒体 DNA 的强调仍然具有夸大 DNA 作用（从而夸大父亲对受孕的贡献）的效果，而忽视卵母细胞细胞质在胚胎和胎盘发育以及母亲在妊娠中所起的作用。通过这种方式，围绕 MRT 的论述错误地暗示，男性和女性对生殖和父母身份的贡献是相同的——核 DNA——从而抹杀了女性对受孕的独特贡献。MRT 有可能以服务于父权制规范的方式重新配置两性之间的关系，这也许是它最重要的方面之一，我们认为，应该在讨论使这些程序合法化的伦理和政策影响时予以考虑。
