Beyond reproductive rights: Advocating for access to assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) for socially infertile individuals using the right to benefit from scientific progress – lessons for African countries

Abstract

Scientific and technological innovations have increasingly enabled humans to overcome biological limitations. Assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs), for instance, offer persons facing medical or social barriers to parenthood the opportunity to realise their dream of building a family. However, in many African Anglophone countries, persons who are socially infertile—gay and single persons—are legally excluded from accessing ARTs to build their families. Relying on reproductive rights to argue against these inhibitive legal provisions may offer some hope, but reproductive rights are often narrowly interpreted to apply only to natural reproduction, excluding ARTs. This paper addresses this gap by exploring the possibility of relying on the right to benefit from scientific progress as a basis for challenging the inhibitive legal provisions. The right to benefit from scientific progress seems promising, as it is widely recognised in international human rights instruments and clearly encompasses ARTs as a scientific advancement. The right could therefore be essential in expanding access to ARTs for socially infertile persons in Africa.