Abstract
Since mitochondrial replacement techniques (MRT) were developed and clinically introduced in the United Kingdom (UK), there has been much discussion of whether these lead to children borne of three parents. In the UK, the regulation of MRT has dealt with this by stipulating that egg donors for the purposes of MRT are not genetic parents even though they contribute mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) to offspring. In this paper, I examine the way that the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act in the UK manages the question of parentage. I argue that the Act breaks the link typically made between genetic causation and genetic parenthood by redefining genetic causation solely in terms of nuclear genetics. Along with this, mtDNA is construed as a kind of supplement to the nuclear family. Drawing on the account of the supplement developed by Jacques Derrida, I argue that mtDNA and the women who donate it are seen as both essential to establishing the nuclear family but also exterior to and insignificant for it.
Highlights
Since mitochondrial replacement techniques (MRT) were developed and clinically introduced in the United Kingdom (UK), there has been much discussion of whether these lead to children borne of three parents
The clinical use of mitochondrial replacement techniques (MRT)1 was legalized in the United Kingdom (UK) through modifications to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act in 2015
My aim in this paper is to examine the way that the question of parentage has been dealt with in the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act and modifications for MRT as well as the reasoning underpinning those
Summary
Mitochondrial organelles are contained within the cytoplasm of the female gamete––the ova––and contain approximately thirty-seven genes. Women seeking to use MRT must exhibit high mutation loads, meaning that any embryo produced with her egg and her partner’s sperm is likely to evidence similar mutations and if gestated, be affected by mtDNA disease. At this point, it is important to note that the use of MRT is not a matter of enabling a couple, of whom the woman carries mutated mtDNA, to become parents to a child who does not carry mtDNA mutations. My task here is not to argue that donors should or should not be considered to be a parent of the child produced through MRT using their eggs; rather, I examine the way that parentage has been regulated in the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act (hereafter HFE Act 2008) and its modification in the 2015 regulations (HFE [MRT] Regulations 2015; hereafter HFE [MRT] 2015)
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