Question

write 3-5sentences reply in respond to this post .

RE: Sect. 1 Week 10 DQ 8: Commodification and Assisted Reproductive Technologies

COLLAPSE

1) A commodity is something that may be properly bought or sold and is of value. The word commodity is synonymous to an item, product, or object.

2) Treating someone as a commodity is treating that individual as a means, something to gain, or something to have. There is a demand for what is valued. I do not believe treating people as commodities is always wrong, as long as the rights of the person are not being infringed and they are being valued as the individual they are. This ideal, however disputes Kant's moral standard, as it is immoral to treat people as a means to an end according to his ethical principle. In my opinion, it can be nice to be in high demand, but it's imperative that the rights of the individual valued, their person, and individual characteristics are upheld, respected, and cared for diligently.

3) I do believe all of the technologies treat children as commodities to an extent, but not in every scenario. More specifically, when outside 'donors' enter into the process for lucrative financial gain. The parents, in all forms, are either selling services to deliver and create a child or to buy a child. The money may be exchanged for the price of the services, but the result is a child that has essentially been purchased. Surrogacy is a prime example. As Anderson notes, "Whereas parental love is not supposed to be conditioned upon the child having particular characteristics, consumer demand is properly responsive to to the characteristics of commodities. So the surrogate industry provides opportunities to the adoptive couples to specify the height, IQ, race, and other attributes of the surrogate mother, in the expectation that these traits will be passed on to the child. Since no industry assigns agents to look after the "interests" of its commodities, no one represents the child's interests in the surrogate industry." (Vaughn, 485). It's a very similar situation where IVF institutes donated or sold eggs and or sperm.

4) Yes, my answer to question 4 mirrors my answer to question three as the ability to choose your child's characteristics through processes such as IVF and surrogacy creates a value and demand scenario where a child is not only being purchased, but is being built to order, so to say.

Works Cited

Vaughn, Lewis. Bioethics: Principles, Issues, and Cases. 2nd Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013.

Answer 1

I agree with the view that surrogacy is a process in which a human being becomes a commodity. In itself, I wouldn’t view surrogacy as immoral as ultimately it benefits individuals who are unable to conceive due to varied circumstances along with the party providing these services, allowing for a win-win situation for both. This perspective however, it utilitarian and a deeper analysis of surrogacy would reveal that it reduces the life of an unborn child as an object.