External Human Fertilization: An Evaluation of Policy

Abstract

In vitro fertilization, in its first 5 years of use, has met minimum standards for efficacy and safety, as judged by published clinical reports. It is becoming more widely available as an approach for overcoming sterility in married couples and appears also to be gaining social acceptance in that context. Several technical options presented by the procedure, particularly storage of frozen embryos and embryo transfers involving third-party contributions, are less fully evaluated clinically and raise social, ethical, and legal questions that go beyond the original medical model for therapeutic intervention. The clinical success of in vitro fertilization and the options it affords call for careful policy consideration. Estimates of costs and of potential demand for and supply of services are provided and the current status of relevant policy in the United States and abroad is discussed.

Games People Play with Abortion Data

“…Characteristically, those who are in favor of unlimited early induced abortion use the highest figures , alleging that over half of conceptions are spontaneously aborted. 7 Abortion, then, is only an imitation of what nature is doing by eliminating early stages of development. It is a non-sequitur, of course, to conclude that we should be free to do by intention what occurs by natural accident.…”

In vitro fertilization and public policy: turning to the consumer

“…Grobstein et al (1983) estimate that 500,000 American women have blocked or missing Fallopian tubes and an additional 850,000 have degrees of tubal damage. The Ethics Advisory Board (1979) identified between 280,000 and 400,000 potential IVF candidates and estimated that 36,000 a year might actually try IVF.…”

The Oversight and Practice of Oocyte Donation in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada

“…The advent and growth of IVF and oocyte donation raised both ethical and policy concerns (e.g., Grobstein et al 1983;Robertson 1988Robertson , 1989Steinbock 2004). These included concerns about the health of both mothers using IVF and children born through the technique as well as concerns about the well-being of oocyte donors.…”