An increase in technology means more choices for childbearing and technological feats that have been miraculous. However, this technology also brings with it a whole bunch of controversy from different groups. Help your students evaluate, take a position on, and make arguments for and against different sides of the baby technology controversy.
Objective

• Determine the ethical, moral, and societal consequences of different technological advances in the area of human reproduction.

Set

• Read the article from The Oprah Winfrey Show, “Wombs for Rent” and/or discuss the very public story of Alexis Stewart (Martha Stewart’s daughter) on her struggle with fertility treatments and her daughter born via a gestational carrier.  Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban have a similar story here.

Instruction

• Facilitate a class discussion creating a venn diagram on the board of the positives and negatives in the circles of technology as it relates to fertility, and child birth. The area in the middle where the circles over lap is the grey area where things are not necessarily right or wrong, black or white positives or negatives. When the class is done discussing look at the length of the lists. What does this tell them about this topic?

Activities

• Find an article on one of the following topics and write a summary of the article. You can even make this a challenge by making it a timed writing assignment. Afterward, sit in a circle and have each student give the high lights of their articles.
• List of articles for students to read and present on:
  • Should Insurance Pay for Fertility Treatments?
  • Cloning is Cloning
  • Biotech Executives Call Anti Cloning Bills Anti Business
  • Cloning and Stem Cell Study
  • The Politics of Cloning
  • Meet the Twiblings
  • Promise of Stem Cell Research
  • International Couples using US Surrogates

Closure

• What is the best way to solve a complex problem? How should you chose a side to be on? What do you think the future holds for reproductive technology?
  

Assessment

• Class Discussion Rubric
• Self assessment in class journal: if your or your partner were infertile would you be willing to consider the idea of fertility treatments, and/or hiring a gestational carrier? Why or why not? What other options might you look into first? How do you expect your family and friends to react to your answer of the first question? Would they support your decision or disagree? Explain.
  

Attachments

• Points Of View (Word)