Ethical obligations in fertility treatment when intimate partners withhold information from each other: an Ethics Committee opinion

Clinicians should encourage disclosure between intimate partners but must maintain confidentiality in cases where there is no prospect of harm to the partner and/or offspring. In cases where one member of a couple refuses to disclose relevant health information to the other partner and there exists a risk of harm to the unaware partner and/or offspring, clinicians may refuse to offer care and should decline to treat if full informed consent is not possible due to lack of disclosure.