Frozen embryos: crime or right?

Abstract

The progress of science and technology made possible the procreation of a human being outside the uterus, as an alternative to the difficulties that some couples face because of infertility. In the regulation of the techniques of artificial insemination, most of the laws seem to come to terms with two primary interests: a) the interests of the parents, who use these techniques to solve problems of fertility, who face a high cost in order to have a child and sacrifice the life of other children, included their own b) the interests of the doctors and researchers who might develop those practices only for their economic interests. This subject focused on bioethics entails deep ethical options, because it requires the respect for the autonomy of the individuals and the parents, as long as this principle doesn’t clash with the respect for the dignity and the equality of the child conceived by artificial insemination and its rights are not violated, a factor that will certainly produce a juridical regulation of the issue. Taking into account the topicality of this subject, we will make a comparative study, with the intention of creating a perspective of continuity (even a slight one), or of break, starting from the Roman Age until the present.

Keywords: the embryos; the hibernation; right; crime.