Chapter 4 argues that there is a (limited) human right to a healthy child, to the extent that medical technologies are available to detect and prevent disease in the future offspring at the conception or gestation stage. It considers two claims arising in Strasbourg litigation: access to timely, accurate prenatal testing and to the termination of pregnancy on grounds of foetal abnormality, and the selection of healthy embryos through pre-implantation genetic diagnosis by aspiring parents afflicted by serious hereditary illnesses. While many judgments are country-specific and regard the failure to correctly implement existing laws or the adequacy of remedies in case of errors, the chapter also questions the legitimacy of total bans on embryo/foetal selection against disability; it maintains that, notwithstanding possible objections based on, inter alia, the message sent by permissive laws to existing disabled people and the human dignity rhetoric, they fail to satisfy the principle of proportionality.

The Introduction provides an overview of the conceptual background and main themes of the book. It briefly considers the advances in assisted reproduction technology (e.g. in vitro fertilisation and pre-implantation genetic diagnosis) and their benefits for aspiring parents. It suggests that these scientific developments not only have led to the emergence of new trends in bioethical politics, but have also inspired claims in the international human rights arena. In fact, an increasing number of legal cases, most notably in the European Convention on Human Rights system, has started to establish a set of rights in connection with access to medically assisted procreation; they are an extension of autonomy rights, the right to respect for family life and non-discrimination rights. The Introduction offers a synopsis of each chapter, outlining the key bioethical and legal controversies examined therein, as well as the central arguments proposed by the book in light of international litigation.