Ouverture de l’assistance médicale à la procréation avec sperme de donneur (AMPD) à des indications non médicales 1

Abstract

In France as in other countries, more and more single women and lesbian couples wish to become mothers. To carry through their parenting project they may consult a physician in France and often go abroad in order to get Assisted Reproductive Technologies with donor sperm (ARTD). Should ARTD be available to those women in France? The physician has not to take the decision. In such situations ARTD has no medical indication or contraindication. This assisted procreation raises many questions on children development and well-being. The results of studies made in other countries are often reassuring but their methodologies do not allow any conclusion to be drawn and grey areas persist. Therefore it should be necessary to develop a research effort in the field as it recently started in France. Would ARTD access to women without a male partner be legalized, the law should respect the ethical principles of non-payment and anonymity associated with donation of all body components. In any case, it should also allow an efficient medical care to be performed to ensure under the best conditions the well-being of the children and their mothers.