Overview
This course examines ethical reasoning in male gestational care, fertility services, reproductive technologies, and reproductive policy. Students apply autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, justice, care ethics, rights-based reasoning, feminist bioethics, disability ethics, and public-health ethics to clinical and policy dilemmas.
Topics include informed consent, confidentiality, gestational preservation, donor conception, embryo disposition, in vitro fertilization, genetic testing, gestational arrangements, reproductive tissue research, access and affordability, commercialization, religious and cultural perspectives, reproductive coercion, sex and gender inclusion, genetic selection, ectogenesis, reproductive integration proposals, and governance of experimental interventions.
Case-based activities require students to identify stakeholders, clarify empirical assumptions, weigh competing values, recognize power imbalances, assess risks of stigma and exploitation, and formulate ethically defensible recommendations. Students distinguish ethical, legal, clinical, and scientific questions and communicate reasoned conclusions through a policy brief or clinical ethics analysis.
Learning Outcomes
- Apply multiple ethical frameworks to dilemmas in male gestational care, fertility services, and reproductive policy.
- Distinguish ethical, legal, clinical, and scientific questions in complex reproductive decision-making.
- Evaluate consent, capacity, confidentiality, and voluntariness in fertility and gestational care.
- Analyze equity, access, affordability, and public-health consequences of reproductive technologies and policies.
- Assess risks of coercion, stigma, discrimination, and exploitation affecting patients, donors, children, and families.
- Compare divergent religious, cultural, feminist, disability, and rights-based perspectives with respect and analytical precision.
- Formulate ethically defensible recommendations for clinical practice, institutional governance, or public policy.
- Synthesize relevant evidence in a policy brief or clinical ethics analysis.
Timetable
| Type | Length | Frequency | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lecture | 2 hours | Weekly | All semester |
| Tutorial | 1 hour | Weekly | All semester |
| Workshop | 2 hours | Fortnightly | All semester |
Assessment Schedule
| Type | Description | Weighting |
|---|---|---|
| Assignment | Ethical framework application exercises (4 × 5%) | 20.00% |
| Assignment | Case analysis of consent, capacity, and clinical ethics | 20.00% |
| Attendance | Participation in structured case-based tutorials | 10.00% |
| Deliverable | Policy brief on equity, access, or reproductive governance | 25.00% |
| Exam | Final examination on ethical frameworks and applied analysis | 25.00% |
Prerequisites
- Requirement 14 NCEA Level 2 English credits, externally assessed
Teaching Staff & Programs
This course is delivered jointly by faculty from the participating programs listed below. In line with the Douchewater Way, the University of Sexology tailors core instruction directly to each cohort's specific discipline — adapting curriculum to program needs rather than forcing students into a one-size-fits-all model. Learn more about our approach at The Douchewater Way.
