Fetal Listing for Organ Transplantation in Canada

Abstract 

This article presents an ethical and legal examination of whether a fetus should be listed to receive a transplanted organ. To date, relatively little discussion of this question has found its way into either the clinical or ethics literature. This article is divided into four sections. The first section analyzes the most common reasons against fetal listing offered by the nonclinicians with whom the author spoke. The two reasons involve the legal concepts of rights and best interests. Pivotal ethical foundations of the Canadian health system are also discussed so as to help develop a compatible allocation process for Canadian transplant programs. The second section analyzes common concerns raised in the author’s discussions with clinicians. The third section presents four cardiac transplant scenarios to illustrate how relevant and sequential criteria for deciding whether, and in what circumstances, an available heart can be defensibly allocated to a fetus. The last section summarizes the decision process that reflects the preceding sections’ analysis. Recognizing that the four scenarios do not exhaust the likely situations wherein a fetus and an infant might qualify for the same organ, the article closes with a recommendation that it be considered a catalyst for further analysis.