Ethical Aspects of Prenatal Diagnosis of Fetal

Fetal malformations complicate approximately 3 % of all pregnancies. Many of these are minor or can be corrected after birth, but there are certain malformations that are lethal and others that are severe and others, that, even if corrected lead to per-manent disability. Advances in prenatal diagnosis made possible the diagnosis of many fetal malforma-tions. This led to the concept of the fetus a patient, independent of the pregnant woman, even though the moral status of the fetus is in dispute. Many of the lethal malformations are untreatable. However, for some, innovative in utero treatments, both med-ical and surgical, became possible. These interven-tions should be evaluated for the relative benefit an