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Accessing Reproductive Technologies: Invisible Barriers, Indelible Harms, Judith F. Daar

ExpressO

The use and success of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) over the past decade has contributed perceptibly to family formation nationwide. Today, 3 of every 100 children born owe their existence to some form of assisted conception. Despite, or perhaps because of, its technical successes, a growing body of evidence suggests that barriers to ART are being constructed to prevent procreation among select populations. The article’s theme is one of harm, specifically the harm that befalls patients, physicians, offspring and society when fertility treatments are denied on the basis of personal characteristics, including race, marital status and sexual orientation. While ART …