Georgetown University Medical Center

Agne Sirinskiene, Ph.D.

Section: Edmund D. Pellegrino Fellows

Dr. Sirinskiene is currently a Senior Lecturer in the Biolaw Department of the Mykolas Romeris University, Vilnius, Lithuania.

Summary of Research Project:

Extent of Information required for informed consent to ART procedures.
During ethical discussions concerning different issues of assisted reproductive technologies (ART), the question of informed consent still appears underestimated as an issue. Furthuremore, it seems that agreement has long since been reached on the necessity for the informed consent, indicating that this is no longer a controversial issue. However, the extent of information required for informed consent still causes a huge number of interpretations by clinicians, lawyers and patients as well. ART are expecially open to various interpretations in this field because of fast technological development and the newness of some procedures like AH (assisted hatching) or ICSI.

On the other hand, information itself and the extent of information may influence one's choices. The extent of information is also closely connected with the respect for patient's autonomy and with interests of the child who is being born after such procdures. Bearing this in mind, the aim of research is to identify extent of information about ART required in order to make a reasoned decision about the procedures and to propose the priorities for presentation of information.
Major attention is going to be paid to the following pieces of information given before the ART procedures:

  • information about ethical aspects of ART and their presentation to a patient
  • information about safety and possible risks for a mother and a child
  • information about the effectiveness of ART procedures
  • specification of existing alternatives

The possiblity of independent consultation, obligatory waiting periods before the beginning of ART procedures will also be considered. During the reseearch the comparison between existing practices of informed consent to ART procedures in the European Union and the United States will be made. The research will end with recommendations for the written forms of informed consent.