(Uterus) Wanted: Dead or Alive Ethical Organ Procurement from Living and Deceased Donors for Uterine Transplantation

Abstract

The research article explores the novel uterine transplantation procedure and the procurement of uteri from living and deceased donors. The procedure allows women lacking a functional uterus to experience gestation and give birth to genetically related children. At the time the article was written, clinical trials had been conducted in several places globally, including the United States. Donations from both living and deceased donors had resulted in successful pregnancies and live births, but the ethics associated with each method had not been evaluated thoroughly. Kantian principles, natural law, natural rights, and utiliarianism were employed to evaluate the ethicality of procuring uteri from living and deceased donors for the elective uterine transplantation. Despite the possibility and benefits of live donations, uteri for the elective uterine transplantation procedure should not be obtained from living donors, in both clinical trials and practice. Utilitarianism and natural rights ethical frameworks bolster the argument for live donations; however, the merits of such an argument are outweighed by the merits of the Kantian and natural law ethical frameworks when applied to the novel medical procedure. If uterine transplantation becomes available to the public as a fertility treatment, uteri should only be procured from deceased donors.