Foundational Principles for Global Policy

1. There is a French woman, single. She wants a baby that she can raise on her own. She applies to one of the three centers in France that permits IVF with donor sperm. She is turned down because she does not meet the 2004 Bioethics law that requires her to be married or have a relationships with a man for at least two years. She goes to Spain and has her egg fertilized with a sperm donor;

2. There is a British couple who wants children, but does not want girls. The couple wants to screen their IVF embryos (PGD) so that they can choose male embryos for transfer. Access to PGD is strictly controlled by The Human Fertilization and Embryology Agency, an independent regulatory agency which categorically forbids sex selection for non medical reason. The couple goes to India where it can have the procedure done;

3. There is an African couple who are shopping in Europe for a woman who would be willing to gestate their embryos. The couple is ready to pay any price for a young, intelligent and healthy (preferably white) woman, and even care for her in Africa until she gives birth. The couple has a healthy 2 years old daughter, and wants another child who would be immunologically compatible with their daughter in case she needs a bone marrow transplant ( the African couple are both carriers of a gene for drepanocytose, a blood condition). Paid surrogacy in most European countries is forbidden, and embryo selection for creating a "Medicine Baby" is not acceptable in most countries. The couple decides to go to Mexico.

The international community is well aware of the disparities and unethical practices in the use of biotechnology, and the glaring inequalities between the poor and the rich. It is well aware of unfair and unacceptable reproductive arrangements, and genetic intervention that may change the nature of being human. And yet it has been resistant to taking remedial action. Taking remedial action we must.

How can the international community be galvanized to make a difference? And what kind of remedial action it needs to take? I propose an international call to action through the adoption of a global plan for a principled approach to and application of biomedical technology. I propose a voluntary agreement among states and their business partners, philanthropy, and civil society to help prevent unacceptable and unethical practices that commercialize humans and alter the essential characteristics of our common humanity.