Some Thoughts About the Psychological Issues Related to Assisted Reproductive Technology

The use of assisted reproductive technology has increased enormously. The new techniques sometimes make possible babies with unusual genetic combinations and definitions of motherhood, fatherhood, and family. Psychoanalytic literature on the experiences and effects of these is relatively new, although infertility has been the subject of more attention. The issues raised by these techniques and their effects are reviewed in this article. Attitudes continue to change and approaches which seemed strange and possibly problematic have become more accepted in a relatively brief period.