Ethics of research in perinatal medicine.

Ethics is an essential component of fetal research. From definitions of medical ethics and the ethical principles of beneficence and respect for autonomy, we identify the ethical concept of the fetus as a patient. We then identify major components of research ethics. On these 2 bases, we identify ethically justified criteria for initiating study of innovative fetal interventions, for randomized trials in fetal research, for making the clinical, scientific, and ethical judgment that fetal research has produced a new standard of care, and for stopping rules for fetal research.