Understanding Standard Ethical Principles (Case Study Sample)

Case Study Analysis/Research of a Topic on the List
Name
Institution
In January 2005, Adriana Iliescu, a retired Romanian University lecturer, was announced by the head of a team of healthcare professions in Bucharest, Romania, for holding a worldwide record of the oldest woman giving birth the age of 66 (Muller, 2006). The method administered to her was in vitro fertilization, and the gametes used were obtained from anonymous donors. Iliescu claimed that her desire to become a mother saw her undergo fertility treatment for over ten years. She first received hormones to reverse menopause, then the In vitro fertilization. Iliescu became pregnant with triplets, whereby one of the fetuses failed to progress and died. Furthermore, the smaller of the two remaining twins died due to complications, which led to her being operated on earlier than expected through a caesarian section. Iliescu ended up having a daughter, Eliza, her biological but not genetic child (Muller, 2006). Her case caused an ethical debate receiving huge impressive attention from both the international and the Romanian media. The Romanian declared ethicists were against older women having babies urged for the legislation to ban all applications for assisted reproduction in infertility due to old age.
Their various stakeholders in this situation include both secondary and primary, Adriana Iliescu( the old mother), Eliza(IIiescu'daughter) and the medical team that performed the procedure on IIiescu are the primary stakeholders. While the Romanian society, the anonymous donors, and the international media are the secondary stakeholders. Iliescu, Eliza, and the medical team are the main primary stakeholders whose perspectives will be analyzed from different ethical viewpoints. The central technical problem, in this case, is one of deliberately choosing the procedure of in vitro fertilization for Postmenopausal motherhood when the possibility of health risks for both the mother and the child are inevitable. The mother is at high risk of miscarriage, C-section, and premature birth of the child. The mother is also at higher risk of increased neonatal mobility and cardiac diseases. An elderly mother's child might risk losing their mother at an early age that can leave the child traumatized. The central ethical problem, in this case, is whether life expectancy should play a part in determining who is permitted to access the treatment. The ethical problem is based on the fact that of all the psychological trauma that a child can undergo, the loss of a mother due to old age can be the most severe.
Standard ethical principles will be applied in trying to solve the ethical dilemma of the case. Starting with Iliescu, who took an individual relativism standpoint, believes that each individual sets their standards of truth and moral judgment. Furthermore, IIiescu has the right to determine what is relatively right for her and her child. She believes that she's still strong and healthy even in her old age and could be a better parent to her daughter Eliza. Moreover, in Beauchamp and Children's Ethical principles, we will apply the Autonomy principle, which allows an individual to make his or her own choices without others' influence. The case of Iliescu, who expressed her intention of being a single mother even in her old age. Lastly, in the case of an ethical problem on Iliescu, the application of rule 3 for computing artifacts clearly states individuals who intentionally use specific computing artifact are morally responsible for that use. Iliescu used the medical technology of in vitro fertilization, which was best suitable for her situation and was able to help her achieve her goals of having a child. She could be morally responsible for her child, and she is also responsible for explaining to Eliza her daughter the circumstances of her birth.