| Abstract: | This paper focuses on ethical issues in applications of cryobiology to humans, more particularly in the field of human reproduction and cryosurgery. The paper also provides essential ingredients for the interface of bioethics and cryobiology. For instance, since the 1970s bioethicists have developed four principles to guide the moral evaluation of the 'new medicine.' These are: respect for persons, non-maleficence, beneficence, and justice. In the field of human reproduction major progress was made by the cryopreservation of reproductive material. Still, ethical issues arise whenever partnerships cease to exist (death) or deteriorate (divorce), and decisions have to be made about the disposition of frozen gametes and embryos. Policy-making becomes, then, a prime concern. Examples of regulation in the United States of America, in the United Kingdom, and across Europe are being offered. Cryosurgery remains a field where cryobiologists struggle in their quest for an optimal technique, thus illustrating the need for assessment of safety, efficacy, and benefit to patients. Increasingly, cryobiologists have been joining in the ethical reflection on the use of cryo-technologies. They may further do so by perfecting their ability to identify ethical aspects, by analysing the norms and values at stake, by learning the skill of making the appropriate choices, and by showing their willingness to justify the choices made be it in the inner circle of pairs or publicly. |
