User:Anvaldez/sandbox

Technique
Although the donor egg is said to contribute only 0.1% to the genetic make up of the child, when examining the genetic material of these children there are still 3 identifiable genetic parents. This is due to the fact that the donor egg came from a non-maternal relative. For the child to have only 2 identifiable genetic parents and still have underwent this procedure, the donor egg must have come from a maternal relative because maternal mtDNA is almost identical. Maternal relative egg donation is not commonly used, however, because if the female egg has a mitochondrial disease then it is highly likely that the maternal relatives inherited the disease as well.

Ethics
The egg donor plays an integral role in this procedure in that they are non-maternally related women who donate one of their healthy eggs to the couple undergoing this procedure. Producing eggs for donation is not only physically but also psychologically taxing on the individual. This brings up the ethics surrounding the principle of double effect. In ethics, a situation can be considered ethical if the benefits outweigh the risks of harm. In this situation however both benefit and harm correspond to two separate individuals. The donor is experiencing the risks of harm associated with egg donation including increased chance of breast and ovarian cancer, damage to the uterus and bladder, decreased fertility and respiratory issues. The potential mother is receiving the benefit by having a baby that does not have mtDNA-associated diseases. Another ethical issue surrounding the egg donor is coercion. Any female could potentially be a donor for this type of procedure. Thus, economically troubled women could be targeted to donate their eggs for this procedure by means of fiscal compensation. Due to this high risk factor associated with the potential egg donor, it is unclear whether this procedure is completely ethical.

The children produced from this type of procedure are also a main concern. This procedure is meant to avoid the potential risks associated with mutated mtDNA including blindness, neurodegenerative disease, diabetes, muscular dystrophy and death. Considering only the benefits associated from removing mutated mtDNA, this procedure seems ethical. However, this type of procedure is still relatively new and not much information about long-term health effects are known. Could the child still inherit mutated mtDNA from the maternal nuclei ? How will future generations be effected? Until these questions are answered, the ethics of this procedure surrounding the potential offspring cannot be determined.