Who are the beneficiaries?

Bioethics. 1992 Oct;6(4):288-96. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8519.1992.tb00207.x.

Abstract

Is it defensible that society spends money on medical or research projects intended to help people solve their fertility problems? Suppose that we want to answer this question from the point of view of a utilitarian cost-benefit analysis. The answer to the question then depends, of course, on how expensive these projects turn out to be, relative to the costs of other possible projects. But it depends also on how we assess the benefits of these projects. To whom do they accrue? Who are the beneficiaries of these projects?

MeSH terms

  • Child
  • Congenital, Hereditary, and Neonatal Diseases and Abnormalities
  • Cost-Benefit Analysis
  • Disabled Persons
  • Ethical Theory
  • Ethics
  • Fertilization in Vitro*
  • Health Care Rationing*
  • Humans
  • Infertility
  • Moral Obligations*
  • Quality of Life
  • Reproduction*
  • Resource Allocation*
  • Social Justice
  • Social Responsibility*
  • Stress, Psychological
  • Value of Life
  • Wrongful Life