Assisted reproduction: emerging technologies ethics, regulation and practice

This Chapter focuses upon a number of issues relevant to assisted reproductive technologies (ART), and outlines relevant law, guidelines, and self-regulatory mechanisms that all serve to govern ART in Australia and its respective states and territories. While it is not possible to cover all issues raised within the field of ART, the discussion aims to highlight the complexity of issues raised, and the role of effective governance in enabling ART to proceed while establishing the bounds within which society has said it may. It also highlights the need for flexibility in regulation in order to be able to respond to rapidly changing science that brings great hope while also posing new challenges into the future.