Why there is no right to know one's genetic origins

Philosophical Reflections on Medical Ethics

Volumn , Issue , 2005, Pages 70-87

  Draper, Heather ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM   (United Kingdom)

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 34250761638     PISSN: None     EISSN: None     Source Type: Book    
DOI: 10.1057/9780230273931     Document Type: Chapter

References (37)

1. See L. Frith (2001) 'Ethical and Legal Debate', Human Reproduction 16(5), pp. 818-24.
2. Available online at: http://www.dh.gov.uk/PublicationsAndStatistics/PressReleases/PressReleasesNotices/fs/en?CONTENT_ID=4070524&chk=jLTlI%2B.
3. For example, D. Benatar (1999) 'The Unbearable Lightness of Bringing into Being', Journal of Applied Philosophy 16, pp. 173-80;
4. J. L. Nelson (1991) 'Parental Responsibilities and the Ethics of Surrogacy: a Causal Perspective', Public Affairs Quarterly, 5, pp. 49-61.
5. For example, T. Bayne (2003) 'Gamete Donation and Parental Responsibility', Journal of Applied Philosophy, 20, pp. 77-87;
6. G. Fuscaldo (forthcoming) 'Genetic Ties: Are They Morally Binding?', Bioethics;
7. H. Draper (submitted) 'Fatherhood, Responsibility and Genetics: Disentangling Genetic Relatedness and Paternal Responsibility', Journal of Medical Ethics.
8. A. McWinnie (2001) 'Gamete Donation and Anonymity', Human Reproduction 16(5), pp. 807-17.
9. Gillian Lockwood, Director of the Midland Clinic, for instance argued at a Progress meeting in London (17 November 2004), http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_east/3753850.stm.
10. Lalos et al. (2003) 'Recruitment and Motivation of Semen Providers in Sweden', Human Reproduction 18: 212-16;
11. E. Blyth (2002) 'Information on Genetic Origins in Donor-assisted Conception: Is Knowing Who You Are a Human Rights Issue?' Human Fertility, 5, pp. 185-92.
12. J. Robinson et al. (1991) 'Attitudes of Donors and Recipients to Gamete Donation', Human Reproduction, 6, pp. 307-9;
13. C. Gottlieb et al. (2000) 'Disclosure of DI to the Child', Human Reproduction, 15, pp. 2052-6;
14. S. Klock et al. (1996) 'A Comparison of Single and Married Recipients of DI', Human Reproduction, 11, pp. 2554-7;
15. R. Cook, S. Golombok, A. Bish and C. Murray (1995) 'Keeping Secrets: A Controlled Study of Parental Attitudes towards Telling about Donor Insemination', American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 65, pp. 549-59;
16. A. Brewaeys et al. (1993) 'Children from Anonymous Donors:An Inquiry into Heterosexual and Homosexual Parents' Attitudes', Journal of Psychosomatic. Obstetrics. & Gynaecology, 14, pp. 23-35;
17. A. Brewaeys et al. (1997) 'DI: Child Development and Family Functioning in Lesbian Mother Families', Human Reproduction, 12, pp. 1349-59;
18. V. Soderstorm-Antilla et al. (1998) 'Embryo Donation: Outcome and Attitudes among Embryo Donors and Recipients', Human Reproduction, 16, pp. 1120-8.
19. A. Clamar (1989) 'Psychological Implications of the Anonymous Pregnancy', in J. Offerman-Zuckerberg (ed.), Families in Transition: A New Frontier (New York: Plenum Press), pp. 111-20;
20. R. Snowden, (1993) 'Sharing Information about DI in the UK', Politics and the Life Sciences, 12, pp. 194-5;
21. K. Daniels and K. Taylor (1993) 'Secrecy and Openness in Donor Insemination', Politics and the Life Sciences, 12, pp. 155-70;
22. Donor Conception Support Group of Australia Inc. (1997) Let the Offspring Speak: Discussions on Donor Conception (Georges Hall, NSW: Donor Conception Support Group).
23. C. Turner (1993) 'A Call for Openness in Donor Insemination', Politics and the Life Sciences, 12, pp. 197-9;
24. S. Golombok (1998) 'New Families, Old Values: Considerations Regarding the Welfare of the Child', Human Reproduction, 13, pp. 2342-7;
25. K. Vanfraussen, I. Ponjaert-Kristoffersen, and A. Brewaeys (2001) 'An Attempt to Reconstruct Children's Donor Concept:a Comparison between Children's and Lesbian Parents' Attitudes towards Donor Anonymity', Human Reproduction, 16, pp. 2019-25.
26. L. Frith (2001) 'Beneath the Rhetoric: the Role of Rights in the Practice of non-Anonymous Gamete Donation', Bioethics, 15(5), pp. 473-84.
27. K. O'Donovan (1991) '"What shall we tell the children?" Reflections on Children's Perspectives and the Reproductive Revolution', in R. L. Lee and D. Morgan (eds.), Birthrights: Law and Ethics at the Beginnings of Life (London: Routledge), pp. 96-114.
28. O'Donovan, citing C. Day (1979) 'Access to Birth Records', Adoption and Fostering, 3(4), p. 17.
29. D. Thowe and J. Feast (2000) Adoption, Search and Reunion: the Long-term Experience of Adopted Adults (London: The Children's Society).
30. Benatar, 'The Unbearable Lightness of Bringing into Being'.
31. Bayne, 'Gamete Donation'.
32. Draper, 'Fatherhood, Responsibility and Genetics'.
33. see T. Beauchamp and J. Childress (1994) Principles of Biomedical Ethics (Oxford: Oxford University Press), pp. 266-8.
34. See also W. Rogers and H. Draper (2003) 'The Ethics of Confidentiality in Medical Ethics', Journal of Medical Ethics, 29, pp. 220-4;
35. H. Draper and W. Rogers (2005) 'Re-evaluating Confidentiality: Using Patient Information in Teaching and Publications', Advances in Psychiatric Treatment 11: 115-24.
36. McWinnie, 'Gamete Donation and Anonymity'.
37. One illustration of this confusion is found in the concluding comments of McWinnie ('Gamete Donation and Anonymity', p. 816)