Shaira Jean T.

Sollano
English 5 – YB 1
September 12, 2020

In Vitro Fertilization embryos to be donated to science research or not

In vitro fertilization (IVF) is a type of assistive reproductive technology (ART). IVF

helps many patients who would be otherwise unable to conceive. The ultimate
advantage of IVF is achieving a successful pregnancy and a healthy baby. It involves
retrieving eggs from a woman’s ovaries and fertilizing them with sperm. This fertilized
egg is known as an embryo. The embryo can then be frozen for storage or transferred
to a woman’s uterus. However, after a successful pregnancy there are leftover embryos
and the parent of the embryos can only decide whether to discard them or to be
donated for research. Unwanted embryos are unlikely to have lives of value. If they are
not destroyed in the process of research, they are instead destined to languish in
freezers until they slowly deteriorate. Human embryos that are discarded every day as
medical waste from in vitro fertilization (IVF) clinics could be an important source of
stem cells for research. Some of the embryos created during IVF are deemed “clinically
useless” because of imperfections, Because poor-quality embryos are discarded
everyday in the course of IVF. Donating embryos also could be used in the study of
normal and abnormal differentiation and development, which could benefit
children with birth defects, genetically derived malignancies, and certain genetic
disorders.
On the other hand, those who don’t want there embryos to be used for research
they can donate the extra embryos to another infertile couple if they have a healthy
embryo left. This is sometimes referred to controversially as embryo “adoption," though
whether the term “adoption” is proper in this case is questionable. Embryo donation may
be handled via an agency or your fertility clinic. Typically, agencies charge significantly
more to potential recipients. On the other hand, an agency may give the donor more
insight into who will receive their embryos. According to Harvard Gazette, poor quality
embryos that are discarded everyday are imperfect. Typically, half of an average yield
of seven embryos per cycle are discarded, providing a potential source of hundreds of
thousands of embryos every year. I believed that they represent an ethically acceptable
source of stem cells for research. If the embryos doesn’t have any use at all because of
its imperfections, it can be used in research because even though its deemed clinically
useless it has still the capability to harbor individual cells capable of growing and
dividing.
 Since human embryos are destroyed during the process of harvesting embryonic
cells, this makes the research unpopular with those that believe human life begins at
conception and that this life is being destroyed. Most couples do not wish to give their
embryos to other couples because they don't want others to be raising their children or
they don't want their children to have unknown siblings that they may encounter
someday. Some would prefer to keep their embryos in storage but do not wish to pay
the fee that is required to do so, resulting in discarded embryos. In a study done by the
journal, Fertility and Sterility, cited in Tara Parker-Pope's "Deciding the Fate of Frozen
Embryos", it was said that 66% of fertility patients that did not wish to have any more
children would have liked to donate their embryos to research. The problem with this is
that only 44% of the fertility clinics involved in this study had this option, forcing them to
choose one of the others (Pope-Parker par.5). These embryos have already been
created and can either be destroyed or used for research, destroying them would simply
be a waste of resources. Some argue that stem cell research in the far future can lead
to knowledge on how to clone humans. This is another ethical issue related to "playing
God" or "messing with human life" as we would be creating humans in a very unnatural
way. Using the leftover embryos that are imperfect for research would benefit not only
the people who wants to conceive a healthier child but also it will cause progress in
cancer research. Embryonic stem cells are very similar to cancerous cells, "Gaining a
better understanding of the molecular, biochemical and functional characteristics of
cancer stem cells may lead to the development of more effective, precisely targeted
treatments" (Norris par.7). This could change the lives of countless people around the
world. These cells are undifferentiated, allowing them to be used in all parts of the body,
giving them the potential to cure hundreds of diseases with the use of all of the different
cells that can be created from them.
You can also keep your extra embryos on ice, either until you decide what to do
or indefinitely. Fertility clinics charge fees for storage, which can range anywhere from
several hundred dollars per year up to a couple thousand dollars. Some clinics limit how
long the embryos can be in storage in their facility and may require your embryos to be
transferred to a cryobank. This will come with additional fees. In For example, if you wait
too long, having another child with the embryos may not be practical or medically
recommended. As far as we know, frozen embryos don’t have a shelf-life limit, so a
donation to another couple may still be possible. Legal problems can also arise if you
delay deciding what to do. Unlike freezing the embryos, donating it for research cost
nothing and some even pays for the embryos. It only needs, consent from the parents
and the research facility will all do the job on obtaining the embryos.

As a whole, using the leftover embryos are much more efficient and significant way of disposing
the embryos unlike freezing them indefinitely. The study of stem cell research would be benefit a lot
from the embryos. Thus, using the leftover embryos that have imperfections that are not ideal to
conceive are ethically acceptable. Many of the population also don’t like to see there embryos or child
growing from other family. Others cant also afford the long term luxury of paying the fees of freezing
the embryos for a long time.