| Abstract [eng] |
Legal Regulation of Artificial Insemination: Problematic Aspects in Theory and in Practice This master's thesis examines and evaluates in author's viewpoint the most important theoretical and practical dilemmas of the regulation of auxiliary fertilization, e.g. individuals’ accessibility to reproductive rights, limitations of the legal status of the embryo, the resulting determinants of reproduction, as well as the formalization of the disposal of unused embryos and resulting legal disputes. The thesis analyzes the case law of the United States of America and the European Union member states, as well as the jurisprudence of the American Court of Human Rights and the European Court of Human Rights, whose totality is to assess whether the established legal regulation of assisted reproduction is effective and compatible with the emerging legal challenges. The first part of the work presents the concept of reproductive rights and reproductive health, highlights the importance of assisted reproduction as one of the reproductive rights, and reviews the current regulation in foreign countries as well as the historical development of the regulation of this institute in Lithuania. The second part of the master's thesis focuses on the issues of regulation of the legal status of the embryo and critically analyses the essential statements of the legal doctrine. In addition, the relevant judgments of the above-mentioned courts, which form the understanding of the guidelines of national regulation, are also analyzed. The third part of the work presents the peculiarities of the legal regulation of the disposition of embryos, reveals the importance of contracts for disposal of unused embryos post medical procedures, provides the case law of foreign states, and determines the applicability of the analyzed practice to Lithuania. The results of the thesis emphasize the lack of common guidelines on the international level for regulating the medically assisted reproduction as the main cause that leads the legislators to introduce sufficiently different legal regulations. There is a clear tendency for countries that have far more experience in providing auxiliary fertilization services and dealing with reproductive law, to establish more flexible and less restrictive legal regulation. |
