Assisted reproductive technologies, such as Intrauterine Insemination and IVF, often depend on sperm extraction. This is done in the form of TESE or Testicular Sperm Extraction. This refers to the procedure of mechanically removing a small tissue from the testicles of the male in the form of a clinical biopsy. Sperm extraction is recommended for males diagnosed with impotency or infertility or the inability to produce motile/mature sperm.
The sperm is extracted from the testicular tissue, and then artificially inserted into a chosen oocyte or female egg cell through the process of ICSI or Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection. However, sperm extraction has raised some ethical questions. Some of the most common ethical questions of TESE include:
Sperm Extraction Is Part of the Mechanization of Reproduction
Understandably, this ethical implication arises from the fact that sperm extraction is usually part of mechanized reproductive technologies like IVF. Sperm cells sourced through sperm extraction are examined to ensure that they are suitable for assisted fertilization. This means that an extracted sperm is further, artificially prepared before being directed towards clinical fertilization with the egg. There are chances that some of the extracted sperm samples might be rejected. In fact, rejection rates in TESE can be high among some males. Most groups voicing against sperm retrieval severely oppose this part of the procedure since it makes the entire process of fertilization extremely mechanical.
Unwarranted Application of Sperm Extraction
Please note that ideally, sperm extraction should be recommended only when all other options for sourcing a healthy sperm sample have been exhausted or the male is incapable of producing mature sperms. However, in real application, many clinics are guilty of proposing sperm extraction even if treatable conditions, like marginally low sperm count, surface. Many times, sperm extraction is put forth as a part of IVF packages, promising better chances of fertilization. Ethical groups have voiced their opinion against this blatant misuse of sperm extraction by infertility clinics and couples who are unwilling to maximize chances of conceiving in a natural manner.
Commercialization of Human Sperm
Despite the advances in sperm extraction methods, the success rates aren't very high and there's always a chance of wastage of a few samples. Further, during the retrieval of sperms from a biopsied sample, more than one sperm cell might be sourced. However, most IVF clinics choose to proceed by fertilizing one egg cell with a single sperm to avoid chances of multiple pregnancies. This means that the additional sperms are either eradicated or stored under artificial conditions. Some of the stored sperms might never be used again and are further donated to other couples seeking similar treatments. The entire process suggests treating the human sperm like a commodity that can be extracted, stored, manipulated and used as per the guidelines of the attending specialists.
Immoral Way of Attaining Parenthood
Many religious groups have raised questions regarding the application of sperm extraction. Such people are inclined towards believing that childbirth through such methods does not equate to the conventional definition of parenthood since the sperm of the father has been mechanically handled and imposed upon a chosen egg cell. In this perspective, sperm extraction breaks away from the norm of mutual intercourse between a husband and wife and thus, contradicts the established norms of attaining parenthood.
