Home > Research > Publications & Outputs > Is infertility a disease and does it matter?

Research

Links

Text available via DOI:

Keywords

View graph of relations

Is infertility a disease and does it matter?

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

Published

Standard

Is infertility a disease and does it matter? / Maung, Hane Htut.
In: Bioethics, Vol. 33, No. 1, 31.01.2019, p. 43-53.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

Harvard

Maung, HH 2019, 'Is infertility a disease and does it matter?', Bioethics, vol. 33, no. 1, pp. 43-53. https://doi.org/10.1111/bioe.12495

APA

Maung, H. H. (2019). Is infertility a disease and does it matter? Bioethics, 33(1), 43-53. https://doi.org/10.1111/bioe.12495

Vancouver

Maung HH. Is infertility a disease and does it matter? Bioethics. 2019 Jan 31;33(1):43-53. Epub 2018 Aug 14. doi: 10.1111/bioe.12495

Author

Maung, Hane Htut. / Is infertility a disease and does it matter?. In: Bioethics. 2019 ; Vol. 33, No. 1. pp. 43-53.

Bibtex

@article{7f302253b96c47fdb4256c1f56a8e8ed,
title = "Is infertility a disease and does it matter?",
abstract = "Claims about whether or not infertility is a disease are sometimes invoked to defend or criticize the provision of state-funded treatment for infertility. In this paper, I suggest that this strategy is problematic. By exploring infertility through key approaches to disease in the philosophy of medicine, I show that there are deep theoretical disagreements regarding what subtypes of infertility qualify as diseases. Given that infertility{\textquoteright}s disease status remains unclear, one cannot uncontroversially justify or undermine its claim to medical treatment by claiming that it is or is not a disease. Instead of focusing on disease status, a preferable strategy to approach the debate about state-funded treatment is to explicitly address the specific ethical considerations raised by infertility. I show how this alternative strategy can be supported by a recent theoretical framework in the philosophy of medicine which avoids the problems associated with the concepts of health and disease.",
keywords = "assisted reproduction, disease, infertility, philosophy of medicine, state-funded treatment",
author = "Maung, {Hane Htut}",
year = "2019",
month = jan,
day = "31",
doi = "10.1111/bioe.12495",
language = "English",
volume = "33",
pages = "43--53",
journal = "Bioethics",
issn = "0269-9702",
publisher = "Wiley-Blackwell",
number = "1",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Is infertility a disease and does it matter?

AU - Maung, Hane Htut

PY - 2019/1/31

Y1 - 2019/1/31

N2 - Claims about whether or not infertility is a disease are sometimes invoked to defend or criticize the provision of state-funded treatment for infertility. In this paper, I suggest that this strategy is problematic. By exploring infertility through key approaches to disease in the philosophy of medicine, I show that there are deep theoretical disagreements regarding what subtypes of infertility qualify as diseases. Given that infertility’s disease status remains unclear, one cannot uncontroversially justify or undermine its claim to medical treatment by claiming that it is or is not a disease. Instead of focusing on disease status, a preferable strategy to approach the debate about state-funded treatment is to explicitly address the specific ethical considerations raised by infertility. I show how this alternative strategy can be supported by a recent theoretical framework in the philosophy of medicine which avoids the problems associated with the concepts of health and disease.

AB - Claims about whether or not infertility is a disease are sometimes invoked to defend or criticize the provision of state-funded treatment for infertility. In this paper, I suggest that this strategy is problematic. By exploring infertility through key approaches to disease in the philosophy of medicine, I show that there are deep theoretical disagreements regarding what subtypes of infertility qualify as diseases. Given that infertility’s disease status remains unclear, one cannot uncontroversially justify or undermine its claim to medical treatment by claiming that it is or is not a disease. Instead of focusing on disease status, a preferable strategy to approach the debate about state-funded treatment is to explicitly address the specific ethical considerations raised by infertility. I show how this alternative strategy can be supported by a recent theoretical framework in the philosophy of medicine which avoids the problems associated with the concepts of health and disease.

KW - assisted reproduction

KW - disease

KW - infertility

KW - philosophy of medicine

KW - state-funded treatment

U2 - 10.1111/bioe.12495

DO - 10.1111/bioe.12495

M3 - Journal article

VL - 33

SP - 43

EP - 53

JO - Bioethics

JF - Bioethics

SN - 0269-9702

IS - 1

ER -