Andrius Narbekovas

THE EVALUATION OF INFERTILITY TREATMENT AND APPLICATION OF ASSISTED REPRODUCTION IN THE ASPECT OF HUMAN DIGNITY

The article raises the issue of today’s application of assisted (artificial) reproduction methods, which are incom-patible with human dignity. The authors articulate the principles of human dignity, which are formulated as an evaluation tool of criteria and them revealing system of indicators in the assessed object. The article compares Naprotechnology as a contemporary holistic method of diagnosis and treatment of infertility, which comprises therapeutic, surgical and fertility awareness method, with methods of assisted reproduction and identifies their medical and ethical differences. The project of the Assisted Reproduction Law of the Republic of Lithuania is evalu- ated in the aspect of human dignity as well.

Students’ Attitude to Ethics of Artificial Fertilization

In the article there are analyzed the students’ points of view concerning artificial fertilization ethics in the EU countries. There was completed a questionnaire for a comparative research. There were asked 767 students. (LUHS (Lithuanian University of Health and Sciences) and VMU (Vytautas Magnus University) n=724, the University of Copenhagen n=47). The data were processed applying a standard algorithm allocated to the analysis of the questionnaire. The research proved the hypothesis: Religious culture predominant in the country meaningfully impacts the points of view concerning artificial fertilization ethics. The research revealed that 80.5% of Lithuanians and 21.3% of the Danish do not agree with the creation of excess humans’ embryos; 14.2% of Lithuanians and 87.2% of the Danish accept artificial fertilization the applying a donor’s sperm; 59.2% of Lithuanians and 95,7% of the Danish accept the artificial fertilization with a spouse’s ovum; 10.7% of Lithuanians and 83% of the Danish agree with the artificial fertilization with the donor’s ovum; 34.6% of Lithuanians and 72.3% of the Danish accept the artificial fertilization applied for single/unmarried female. 41.8% of Lithuanian respondents indicated homological one being the most moral, and 54.3% of the Danish respondents – all technologies of artificial fertilization. The questioned groups in Lithuania (LUHS (Lithuanian University of Health Sciences), MA (Medicine Academy) and VMU (Vytautas Magnus University) and in Denmark (the University of Copenhagen) differed according to the extent and age – thus there is requested a further development of the comparative research under the same methodology. doi:10.5200/sm-hs.2012.052