Question

Using the DIALECTICAL PROCESS state what your ethical position would be on Assisting Women over the Age of Menopause to become Pregnant and why. You are to take a position and defend it. You should use some ethical principle to decide what you think is the morally correct thing to do. You must state those principles and explain how they have been applied to the situation. You should indicate that you have rejected alternative positions to your own and the reasons why you have done so. In so doing you need to enunciate clearly the values and ethical principle(s) you are using to both reject the alternative positions and to defend or support your own.

Use this template or form to make certain that you include each part of the process-parts a to e

Label your parts with the letters a to e to make very clear that you have done each part.

a. Take a position on this question or issue Be as exact as you can be. Be precise in your use of language(ethical principles and values).

• b. Provide the reasons why you think this position is better defended by reason and evidence than are the alternative positions Position defended using reasoning (ethical principles and values) in support of the judgment (conclusion of the argument). You state the reasons why the position you take makes sense and has evidence and reasons (ethical principles and values) to support it other than your feelings or personal preference or your opinion or what you were brought up to believe or what just about everyone you know thinks or believes.   Philosophers have offered such reasons (ethical principles and values) and evidence for the positions they have taken and you should consider them and if you agree you can and should so state them in support of your own position.
• c. State the reasons why you found the other positions flawed or less defensible than the one you are defending
• d. State the criticisms of your position
• e.   Respond to the criticisms- rebuttal- how do you defend your position in light of those criticisms

Answer 1

There used to be a thought that women over 30 should not get pregnant and this has changed in recent times to over 40. Today, women crossing 50 and post menopausal can also get pregnant due to advances in the medical industry. Today's doctors say that there is no reason to not try the process. They suggest that complications can arise but there is no such complication that cannot be handled through close monitoring and intensive healthcare. Assisted reproductive technology (ARTs) in healthy women will also help.

Post menopausal women do not produce eggs but pregnancy is made possible using a donor egg. Therefore, a donated and fertilised egg is added on to the reproductive cycle, which is intact. Only the biological clock for the ovary ends during menopause and not the reproductive cycle. Even the side effects that occur during the process have been considered tolerable that a woman post menopause should not consider these reasons for not having a baby. Molecular mechanisms using stem cells are also evolving that can aid in a woman producing eggs in the ovary for longer time period.

When the questions are asked by the society if an older age is appropriate to bring up a child, most doctors respond stating that there cannot be a better mother than an older one when compared to really young ones. An ethical and sociological statistics reveals an overall positive attitude amongst couples. A major cultural shift has also helped in older women receiving greater social acceptance in bearing children in the later stages of life.

A survey conducted between 1993 and 2014 by a team of scientists has broken all ethical issues raised in this case over years. It was concluded that post menopausal women (PMW) possesses better parenting abilities. Wide support was also received to not consider a woman's age, motivation for pregnancy and marital status if she wants to opt for invitro fertilisation. It was also concluded that most opposition against IVF for PMW was based on assumptions as in choices.