ABSTRACT
The key elements of informed consent are competence, disclosure, understanding, voluntariness, and authorization. Health care providers must not proceed with a diagnostic, therapeutic, or research intervention without an informed consent from a competent patient or research participant. Informed decisionmaking for both research and therapy begins with, but requires more than, the disclosure of information. Legislation and case law on various aspects of informed consent vary among jurisdictions. The primary objective of new reproductive technologies (NRTs) as clinical practice is to benefit infertile individuals. There is reasonable evidence of some clinical NRTs' safety and efficacy and some measure of professional consensus as to their therapeutic merit. One concern with NRTs that applies to both fertile and infertile individuals is the risk that they will be pressured by their physicians or family members and friends seeking infertility treatment to donate, trade, or sell their gametes for therapeutic or research purposes. For many, the moral acceptability of NRTs turns on informed consent.
