FROZEN HUMAN LEFTOVERS: The Washington Post has an interesting story today about “leftover” embryos from fertility treatment that are in indefinite frozen limbo in storage facilities across the country.
Loblein was 35 when she walked down the aisle for the second time, and she was already a mother to three children from her first marriage. But the meteorological satellite operator knew that she wanted a child with her new husband, and in vitro fertilization was necessary.
Today, they have a little boy and a little girl — and, despite Loblein’s best efforts not to create more than they needed, that extra embryo she had wanted to avoid. Waiting in limbo for her to decide its fate.
The Lobleins are among thousands of couples and individuals in the United States grappling with difficult choices regarding their stored genetic material. The Department of Health and Human Services estimates that more than 600,000 frozen embryos are stored nationwide, in addition to countless more cryo-preserved eggs and sperm.
Some States, such as Georgia and Louisiana, have laws that specifically allow for embryo adoption. In most States, however, a frozen embryo is just a form of “property,” that can be relinquished the same as eggs or sperm. Disputes over who has the right to frozen embryos in the context of divorce are shockingly common. The “ownership” of frozen embryos post-mortem is likewise increasing.
It is kind of depressing to think of all those frozen embryos that could find good homes with couples that are desperately waiting to adopt. There are frozen embryo adoption agencies, but the biggest impediment seems to be convincing the progenitors to cede the excess embryos to others:
One survey of more than 1,000 patients from nine U.S. fertility clinics who had extra embryos found that nearly 60% said they were “very unlikely” to donate them to another couple trying to have a baby; only 7% were “very likely” to consider this option. “It was the idea that their child was walking around, and they couldn’t ensure it was having a great life,” says lead author Dr. Anne Drapkin Lyerly, an ob-gyn and associate director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “If they couldn’t raise that child, many felt that the responsible choice was to make sure they didn’t become children in someone else’s life. One woman told me, ‘I’d rather have them destroyed than born.’ ”
Yeah, I can understand that sentiment.