In-vitro Fertilization (IVF) as a Sociotechnical System: Using Actor-network Theory (ANT) for Teaching Undergraduate Engineers About the Ethics of Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART)

While reproductive technologies have enabled many otherwise infertile couples to conceive, and contributed to the untold joy and satisfaction that comes with creating a family, the use of these technologies has also introduced into the process of being conceived and born, multiple and complex nodes of ethical concern. This paper describes an engineering school elective course on the ethics of reproductive technologies. And how, as a result of guest lectures by one of the leading embryologists in the United States, and class visits to his IVF lab, the students came to appreciate the moral agency of both human and non-human technological "actants" involved in the socio-technical network that surrounds assisted reproductive technology (ART). Thusly, the author advocates for inclusion of the Actor Network Theory (ANT) in engineering ethics pedagogy.