Every September 18, World Medical Ethics Day is observed, a date established by the World Medical Association on the anniversary of its founding in 1947.

Medical ethics goes considerably beyond complying with codes. It is the commitment to act with responsibility, respect, and honesty in every clinical decision, with the patient’s well-being at the center.

In reproductive medicine that weighs double. Anyone seeking care for a fertility problem faces expensive decisions, intense emotions, and an amount of information that is hard to process. In that setting, transparency stops being an abstract value and becomes something very concrete: the questions you can ask, and the answers you should receive.

The principles behind the practice

Medical ethics rests on principles present in every appointment, every test, and every treatment:

  • Respect for your autonomy: decisions about your body are yours
  • Beneficence: acting in your interest
  • Non-maleficence: not exposing you to unnecessary risk
  • Justice: equitable access to care
  • Confidentiality: your information belongs to you
  • Honesty and transparency: telling you what is true, even when it is not what you hoped for

Technology changed enormously over recent decades. These principles did not.

The questions you have every right to ask

This is where ethics becomes practical. These questions are legitimate and a clinic should answer them without hedging:

Why are you recommending this treatment and not another? There should be clinical reasoning behind it, tied to your specific diagnosis.

What alternatives exist for my case? There is rarely a single path. Knowing all of them is part of deciding.

What are my chances, with my age and my diagnosis? Not the clinic’s general figures: yours.

What exactly does the cost include and what does it not? This should be clear before starting, not along the way.

What happens if this attempt does not work? A plan that accounts for that scenario is a sign of honesty, not pessimism.

Does this test change any decision? If a test does not change the clinical course, it is worth asking why it is being ordered.

If any of these questions makes the person treating you uncomfortable, that itself is information.

Signing a form is not giving informed consent. Consent is a communication process in which the medical team explains:

  • The diagnosis
  • The recommended tests
  • The treatment alternatives
  • The possible benefits
  • The limitations
  • The risks, where applicable

The goal is for you to decide with sufficient information. If you leave an appointment without understanding what will be done and why, the process was left incomplete.

Hands placing a block with a medical cross next to others with health icons

Every clinical decision rests on principles that predate the technology

Talking plainly about results

Here is a delicate point worth naming: no fertility treatment can guarantee a pregnancy.

Results vary from one person to another. Age, diagnosis, ovarian reserve, sperm quality, and each body’s individual response mean two patients on the same treatment can have different outlooks.

A clinic promising identical results for everyone is saying something medicine cannot support. Transparency includes communicating that variability from the start, even when it is less commercially appealing.

Ethics applies to technology too

Reproductive medicine has advanced extraordinarily. Today there are genetic tests, hormonal evaluations, metabolic diagnostics, highly specialized laboratories, and technology for embryo development.

Each tool should be used when there is a medical indication, considering each patient’s needs and grounded in evidence. Adding tests that do not change the treatment makes the process more expensive without contributing anything.

Innovation is worth it when it makes care safer and more personalized. Not when it only makes the bill longer.

Confidentiality: information that belongs to no one else

Fertility appointments involve deeply personal information: medical history, family history, test results, genetic information.

Protecting that data is an ethical and legal obligation. You have the right to know who accesses your information and for what purpose.

The emotional side is part of it too

Fertility treatment mobilizes far more than the clinical. Recognizing that, and offering support when it is needed, is part of complete care. That is why our Emotional Support area exists.

Frequently asked questions

Can I ask for a second opinion?

Always, and an ethical clinic will make it easy. Requesting your test results to take to another specialist is your right.

Can I change my mind after signing consent?

Yes. Consent is revocable. You can pause or modify decisions at any point in the process.

How do I know if the success rates I’m shown are reliable?

Ask which population they correspond to: which ages, which diagnoses, whether they are per cycle started or per transfer. A figure without that context does not say much.

What if I feel it wasn’t explained well?

Ask again, in writing if necessary. Understanding your treatment forms part of the care you are receiving, rather than a favor being done for you.

At Ingenes we work from this as a baseline

More than 20 years of practice taught us that trust is built by explaining, not by promising.

That is why our evaluation aims to give you a clear diagnosis, real alternatives for your case, and a transparent financial proposal from the First Consultation onward, with precision diagnostics, highly specialized technology, and a multidisciplinary team that works from scientific evidence.

Because decisions about your body and your plans are yours. Our job is for you to make them with all the information in hand.

Sources

  • World Medical Association. Declaration of Geneva. wma.net
  • World Medical Association. International Code of Medical Ethics. wma.net
  • World Medical Association. Medical Ethics Manual. wma.net
  • American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Ethics Opinions. asrm.org