THE IMPACT OF NEW MEDICAL TECHNOLOGIES IN HUMAN-REPRODUCTION ON CHILDRENS PERSONAL SAFETY AND WELL-BEING IN THE FAMILY

By nature and law, parents are expected to be the guardians and protec tors of their children. Yet, evidence is available that the majority o f children at risk are victimized by those who should protect them: th eir closest family. Parenthood is a desired and valued task by individ uals and society, and the new medical technologies in human reproducti on assist individuals and couples to realize their wish for parenthood . Regretfully, they also create new and unprecedented forms of risk to childrens' personal safety and well-being in their family. The purpos e of this paper is to show how children's personal safety and well-bei ng in the family are affected by the circumstances under which their c onception has occurred, and that use of modern technologies in the pro cess of human reproduction may lead to child maltreatment, abuse, negl ect or abandonment. Thus, societal intervention may be necessary in or der to obviate the scope of these social phenomena.