An Approach to the Static and the Dynamic Dimension of the Procreative Will on the basis of Posthumous Assisted Reproduction

Abstract

The object of this article is to contribute to the conceptual development of the procreational will, as an element that legitimises the medical acts of the assisted human reproduction techniques and that determines the resulting parenthood. The research problem refers to the disparity that is observed in Spanish and Catalan legislation between heterologous assisted reproduction and posthumous assisted reproduction: While in the first case informed consent is enough for the purpose of parenthood, in the second case the concurrence of genetic data is also required. The same scheme is presented in Argentina based on the projected regulation on posthumous reproduction. The hypothesis is that this problem has a bioethical reason, consisting in the distinction between the static dimension and the dynamic dimension of the procreative will, and in the requirement to genetic data in the absence of the latter.