ETHICAL ISSUES IN THE NEW REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGIES - PERSPECTIVES FROM FEMINISM AND THE PSYCHOLOGY PROFESSION

The new reproductive technologies raise ethical and professional issue s for psychologists and society in general. Focusing primarily on cont ractual parenting (also known as ''surrogacy'') and prenatal screening , 3 kinds of issues are distinguished: those that arise within the pra ctice of contractual parenting (ie., how should it be done?), those th at question whether it should be done at all, and those raised by psyc hologists' roles in this arena. The analytic framework is derived from 2 perspectives: feminist ethics and the ethical principles of the psy chology profession. These perspectives shape the recommendations devel oped for each kind of issue.