Donation of the body and its parts in the construction of parenthood

Main Article Content

Linda Alfano
Paolo Fontana
Liliana Lorettu
Rosagemma Ciliberti

Keywords

Motherhood, Reproductive choices, Best interest of the child, Surrogacy, Intra-family collaborative reproduction

Abstract

The developments of science and technology make possible today unprecedented exchanges of body parts by multiplying the figures and links that intervene in the process of building parenthood and generating significant ethical and judicial controversies.


Body donation in the procreative field constitutes an anthropological and social phenomenon of increasing attention, which contributes to one of the most intimate and profound aspirations of the human being and which requires a careful evaluation of the various interests involved and a thorough reflection on the statute and characteristics of the parental bond.


The interest of the child, the dignity of women and the quality of human relations are the parameters of this analysis and, at the same time, the perimeter of the judgment. However, the approach to these issues is complicated not only by the extreme heterogeneity of legislation but also by suspicions and prejudices that hinder reflection appropriate to the complexity of the issues involved.


Investigate the reasons for the choice of donation, the criticalities, and possible drifts, without closing in their subjective value horizon, is an unavoidable prerequisite for a comparison with the new social realities of the family that respects the fundamental rights of the person.

Abstract 276 | PDF Downloads 156

References

1. Hert R. Single Mothers as Bricoleurs: Crafting Embryos and Kin. J Fam Issues 2020; 42(5):0192513X20910761-30.
2. Hargreaves K. Constructing families and kinship through donor insemination.
Sociol Health Illn 2006; 28(3):261-83.
3. Zadeh S, Ilioi EC, Jadva V, Golombok S. The perspectives of adolescents conceived using surrogacy, egg or sperm donation. Hum Reprod 2018; 33(6):1099-106.
4. Molinelli A, Bonsignore A, Rocca G, Ciliberti R. Medical treatment and patient decisional power: The Italian state of the art. Minerva Med 2009; 100(5): 429-34.
5. Zaami S. Assisted heterologous fertilization and the right of donor conceived children to know their biological origins. Clin Ter 2018; 169 (1):e39-43.
6. Mulligan A. Identity rights and sensitive ethical questions: the European Convention on human rights and the regulation of surrogacy arrangements. Med Law Rev 2018;26(3):449-75.
7. März JW. What makes a parent in surrogacy cases? Reflections on the Fjölnisdóttir et al. v. Iceland decision of the European Court of Human Rights. Medical Law International 2021; 21(3) 272-85.
8. März JW. Challenges Posed by Transnational Commercial Surrogacy: The jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights. Eur J Health Law 2021;28(3):263-80.
9. Rodotà S. Il corpo giuridificato. In Stefano Canestrari, Ferrando Gilda, Cosimo Marco Mazzoni, Stefano Rodotà, Paolo Zatti (a cura di), Trattato di biodiritto. Il governo del corpo. I, Milano: Feltrinelli, 2011:51-76.
10. Mingardo G. Approdi e partenze: lo stato della gestazione per altri e la prospettiva futura. Rivista AIC 2021; 4:206-27.
11. Dute J. European Court of Human Rights. ECHR 2015/12 Case of Paradiso and Campanelli v. Italy, 27 January 2015, no. 25358/12 (Second Section). Eur J Health Law 2015;22(3):289-92.
12. Zaami S, Del Rio A, Negro F, Varone MC, Marinelli S, Montanari Vergallo G. The March 2021 Italian constitutional court ruling on surrogacy: a prelude to common European legislation for the sake of reproductive health? Eur J Contracept Reprod Health Care 2022;27(1):61-6.
13. Tonolo S. Adoption v. Surrogacy: New Perspectives on the Parental Projects of Same-Sex Couples, The Italian Review of International and Comparative Law 2021;1(1):132-45.
14. Mulligan A. Anonymous gamete donation and Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights: The case for incompatibility. Medical Law Int 2022; 22(2):119-46.
15. Montanari Vergallo G, Marinelli E, di Luca NM, Zaami S. Gamete donation: are children entitled to know their genetic origins? A comparison of opposing views. The Italian State of affairs. Eur J Health Law 2018; 25: 322-37.
16. Comitato Nazionale di Bioetica. Conoscere le proprie origini biologiche nella procreazione medicalmente assistita eterologa (25 novembre 2011) https://bioetica.governo.it/it/pareri/pareri-e-risposte/conoscere-le-proprie-origini-biologiche-nella-procreazione-medicalmente-assistita-eterologa/
17. Ethics Committee of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Informing offspring of their conception by gamete or embryo donation: a committee opinion. Fertil Steril 100 (2013) 45-9.
18. Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Anonymous donation of sperm and oocytes: balancing the rights of parents, donors and children. Doc. 14854 (2 Aprile 2019) https://assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/XRef/Xref-XML2HTML-en.asp?fileid=27475&lang=en
19. Patuzzo S, Goracci G, Gasperini L, Ciliberti, R. 3D Bioprinting Technology: Scientific Aspects and Ethical Issues. Sci Eng Ethics 2018; 24(2): 335-48.
20. Bandelli, D. The Italian Case: A Strong Opposition in the Name of Women’s Sexual Identity and Motherhood. In: Sociological Debates on Gestational Surrogacy. Springer, Cham; 2021. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-80302-5_7
21. Brown MT. The Moral Status of the Human Embryo. The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy: A Forum for Bioethics and Philosophy of Medicine 2018; 43 (2): 132–58
22. The Ethics Committee of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Using family members as gamete donors or surrogates (July 25, 2012) https://www.fertstert.org/article/S0015-0282(12)00699-1/fulltext.
23. Cantarella E. Il paradosso romano: la donna tra diritto e cultura. In Maria Teresa Guerra Medici (a cura di). Orientamenti civilistici e canonistici sulla condizione della donna. Napoli: ESI; 1996.
24. Fara F. “Fillus de anima": tra affido e adozione nella famiglia sarda tradizionale. Tesi in breve di Francesca Fara 27/07/2012 Anno accademico 2010-2011. Facoltà di Psicologia- Master di II Livello in “Il lavoro clinico e sociale con le famiglie accoglienti: affido e adozione” Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore di Milano
25. Greco O. Abitare la complessità: la dimora della famiglia adottiva. In Rosa Rosnati (a cura di). Il legame adottivo. Contributi internazionali per la ricerca e l’intervento. Milano: Unicopli; 2010.
26. Mauss M. Saggio sul dono. Forma e motivo dello scambio nelle società arcaiche. Torino: Einaudi; 2002.
27. Titmuss RM. The gift relationship. From human blood to social policy. London: Allen and Unwin; 1970.
28. Dei F. Culture del dono. Religioni e società 2007; 58:7-11
29. Guerzoni CS. “Generare oltre i corpi. Progetti genitoriali, percorsi riproduttivi e pratiche di surrogacy: il viaggio oltreoceano di padri gay italiani”. In Claudia Mattalucci (a cura di) Antropologia e riproduzione. Attese, fratture e ricomposizioni nelle esperienze di procreazione e genitorialità in Italia. Milano: Raffaello Cortina, 2017:61-88.
30. Ragoné H. The gift of life surrogate motheorhood, gamete donation, and construction of altruism. In L. Layne (Ed.), Transformative motherhood: On giving and getting in a consumer culture. New York: New York University Press; 2000.
31. Gilman L. Toxic Money or Paid Altruism: The Meaning of Payments for Identity-Release Gamete Donors. Sociol Health Illn 2018; 40 (4):707-17.
32. Ragone’ H. Surrogate motherhood: conception in the haert. Abingdon: Ed. Taylor & Francis Ltd; 2020.
33. Skoog Svanberg A, Sydsjö G, Lampic C. Psychosocial aspects of identity-release gamete donation - perspectives of donors, recipients, and offspring. Ups J Med Sci 2020;125(2):175-82.
34. Grimaldi P. Gli accordi di maternità surrogata tra autodeterminazione sulle scelte procreative, autonomia privata e best interest of the child. Familia 2017; 5-6: 323-37.
35. Trib. Roma (decr) 17.02.2000 in Fam. Dir. 2000, 151 s. con commenti di Dogliotti e Cassano
36. Canestrari S, Ferrando G, Mazzoni C M, Rodotà S, Zatti P. (a cura di) Trattato di biodiritto. 2 Milano: Giuffrè ed; 2011.
37. Ciliberti R, Gulino M, Gazzaniga V, Gallo F, Vellone VG, De Stefano F, Santi P, Baldelli I. A Survey on the Knowledge and Attitudes of Italian Medical Students toward Body Donation: Ethical and Scientific Considerations. J Clin Med 2018;97(7) pii: E168.
38. Alfano L, Lorettu L, Monteleone R, Ciliberti R. Parenting, between radicalism and ideology. Med Hist 2022; 6(2): e2022019.