The success of assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) worldwide has led to an accumulation of frozen embryos that are surplus to the reproductive needs of those for whom they were created. In these situations, couples must decide whether to discard them or donate them for scientific research or for use by other infertile couples. While legislation and regulation may limit the decisions that couples make, their decisions are often shaped by their religious beliefs. Unfortunately, health professionals, scientists and policy-makers are often unaware of the way in which faith traditions view ART and decisions concerning the 'fate' of surplus embryos. In this paper scholars representing six major religious traditions provide a commentary on a hypothetical case concerning the donation or destruction of excess ART embryos. These commentaries provide a rich account of religious perspectives on the status of the human embryo and an insight into the relevance of faith to health and policy decisions, particularly in reproductive medicine, ART and embryo research.The increasing availability and utilization of assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) has led to an accumulation of frozen embryos that are surplus or excess to the needs of those for whom they were created within fertility clinics worldwide. Couples who have succeeded in becoming parents and have no further desire to reproduce are then faced with a difficult choice about the use of their
1. IntroductionPrimal Therapy, a form of psychological treatment based on expelling neurosis through emotional expression, was developed by the Californian psychotherapist Arthur Janov. His work became well known across the Anglophone world with the 1970 publication of The Primal Scream (subtitled Primal Therapy: The Cure for Neurosis). It is claimed this book sold more than one million copies internationally, which – if true – makes it one of the best-selling psychology books ever. In 1968 J..
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