In vitro fertilization ("IVF") is the most common assisted reproductive technology (ART) procedure, and is used to help help a couple to get pregnant. The world's first IVF baby ('test tube' baby), Louise Brown, was born in 1978. Over 3 million babies have been born using IVF. Today, about 1% of the births in America are a result of IVF.
During IVF, a woman is given a course of hormone treatments to cause her ovaries to produce multiple eggs. The eggs are surgically removed just prior to ovulation. They are then placed in a culture dish with the father's sperm. During the next few days, the dish is periodically examined to see if fertilization has occurred. In approximately 48 hours, when the embryos reach the eight-cell stage, those that appear healthy and are growing normally are transferred into the uterus, where, it is hoped, some will implant and develop full term. A woman may have to undergo several treatment cycles before she becomes pregnant.
It is now technically possible to use donated sperm, donated eggs, and donated embryos. Surrogate motherhood employs a 'borrowed' uterus; one woman carries a fetus for another infertile woman and then gives the child to the infertile woman after birth.
No matter how they were created, the embryos are human and alive (or we wouldn't be implanting them in a woman), and thus must be recognized as having the rights of a person. When this fundamental moral line is violated or obscured, categories of people become devalued and they become easily used for utilitarian purposes.
Despite the short history of assisted reproduction, it is well established that infants conceived following IVF are more likely to be born premature, have a low birth weight and be a twin or multiple than naturally conceived infants. The evidence relating to the risk of birth defects is less clear. The risk of birth defects in the general population is usually cited at 1-3% of all births. Recent studies have shown a slightly higher incidence of birth defects in IVF babies, ranging from 1.3 to 4.7%
IVF is expensive, costing at least $10,000 per attempt, and about 90% of the embryos do not survive. To hold down costs and enhance the odds of success, doctors sometimes implant five or more embryos in the mother's womb. This may result in more babies than a couple wants.
To avoid carrying and rearing "too many" babies after several have been implanted, doctors sometimes engage in something euphemistically called "fetal reduction" or "selective reduction." Here they monitor the babies in utero to see if any have defects or are judged to be not as healthy as the others. Then they eliminate those "less desirable" babies by filling a syringe with potassium chloride, maneuvering the needle toward the "selected" baby in the womb with the aid of ultrasound, and then thrusting the needle into the baby's heart. The potassium chloride kills the baby within minutes, and he or she is expelled as a "miscarriage." If it cannot be determined that one baby is less healthy than the others, some doctors simply eliminate the baby or babies who are easiest to reach. Again we see the diminishing of the value of human life which can arise from this procedure.
In a typical IVF treatment, more embryos are brought into existence than can be safely implanted into a woman. The remaining embryos are frozen to be used later if the first trial proves unsuccessful or when the couple wants another child. However, not all embryos are replaced and not all parents indicate what should be done with them.
There are an estimated 440,000 frozen embryos in the U.S. alone. The parent(s) can keep them frozen in case they ever want to try for more chldren, but that can be expensive. And how long do you continue to store them? They can donate them to other infertile couples, but that is a difficult decision to make, especially if the embryo comes from the egg and sperm of you and your spouse. They could thaw or dispose of them or allow the embryos to be used for research, both of which are immoral, as if involves the destruction of a human life.
IVF already uses pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD for short), to screen for serious genetic health problems. Any embryo that might have a genetic disorder is not implanted, and often thrown away. Fertility clinics around the world are screening for gender, eye and hair color, and the like. Fertility clinics around the world are largely unregulated.
Children are increasingly been seen as a commodity -- a thing -- rather than a human being.
Issues ranging from the age of the mother (the oldest woman to give birth with IVF was 58), the number of children desired (the 'Octomom'), what happens to the embryos if the parents divorce, or die, have all come up and need to be addressed. In addition, there is concern over the length of time embryos have been kept in frozen storage, and an increase in fetal abnormalities. However, no long-term studies have been carried out since the age of the oldest child born as a result of frozen embryo transfer is only 14.
