Avant-propos - Studia Moralia

THE MORALITY OF ADOPTING FROZEN EMBRYOS 137
her embryo a chance at life that she cannot provide, and is eager
to give the child up to another woman who can both gestate and
raise the child? Does she do wrong? This possibility, though
fraught with moral, emotional and technical difficulties, does
not seem to be ruled out in principle.
3. Further Moral Concerns and Considerations
In the previous section, we examined a number of arguments
that have led some commentators to conclude that the
adoption of human embryos is morally wrong in itself. Those
arguments are not in the end convincing; the adoption of abandoned
human embryos cannot be ruled out in principle.
However, it would be a mistake to conclude from this that the
choice to adopt an abandoned embryo is always a good thing. In
fact, there are a number of further moral considerations that
must be taken into account when a couple is considering such
an adoption. Issues of cooperation with wrongdoing and scandal
must be taken into account in evaluating the permissibility
of embryo adoption in any particular situation. Furthermore, it
is also important to acknowledge the limitations of the conceptual
paradigm of adoption that has been central in this essay.
For while a woman’s decision to have an embryo implanted in
her uterus is certainly analogous to the ordinary notion of what
it means to adopt a child, it is by no means identical, and the
limits of this analogy must be noted. 39
However, while moral difficulties involved in specific cases
must be taken into account, one must not lose sight of the centrality
of the good of adoption, whether it be of an embryo or a
child. From the beginning of the Christian tradition, the Church
has always been involved in the rescue and placement of
foundlings. 40 The good of finding loving and stable homes for
39 I have taken up a number of these issues in my article “The Morality
of Adopting Frozen Embryos: Contemporary Context and Debate,” unpublished
paper.
40 On this question, see Amundsen (1996) and Boswell (1988).