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- Title
The ethics of informed consent for infants born to adolescents: A case study from Malaysia.
- Authors
Lee, Jeffrey Soon-Yit; Ng, Benjamin Wei-Liang; bin Abdul Aziz, Mohammad Firdaus
- Abstract
Adolescent pregnancy results from the complex interaction between various internal and external vulnerabilities. These vulnerabilities persist after the infant's birth when the adolescent becomes a parent. Adolescent parents are unfairly stereotyped as unmotivated and incompetent. Some legislations prohibit adolescents from giving consent on the grounds of incompetency. Despite being different, "competency" is frequently used interchangeably with "capacity"; thus, incompetent individuals are often mistaken to lack capacity. Consequently, legally incompetent adolescents who became parents are frequently disregarded during their infant's decision-making process. This article discusses the distinction between the competence and capacity of adolescent parents, the various vulnerabilities that contribute to an adolescent's incompetency, and advocates respect for the adolescent's capacity in making decisions for her infant. We propose a workflow for obtaining informed consent for infants born to adolescents ethically guided by the respect for individuals principle while staying within the country's legal framework.
- Subjects
MALAYSIA; TEENAGE parents; TEENAGERS; INFANTS; PREMATURE infants; TEENAGE pregnancy; ETHICS; DECISION making
- Publication
Clinical Ethics, 2024, Vol 19, Issue 1, p125
- ISSN
1477-7509
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1177/14777509231208366