Fertility Clinics

Fertility Clinics

Thesis Statement

Fertility clinics have been very successful in proving care to couples and fulfilling their dreams of having a child.

Introduction

Over the past decade there has been a substantial increase in the number of couples attending fertility clinics. It is estimated that 15% of the population in industrial countries are affected by infertility, defined as the inability to conceive after 12 months of unprotected intercourse. While fertility clinics are more available, since the 1960s there has been a significant decrease in fertility in Australia and other developed countries, which is considered to be a reflection of lifestyle.

Hassan and Killick (2004) mention developed countries are experiencing epidemics of obesity as a consequence of reduced physical activity and excess food intake. Smoking rates in young women remain high and starting a family is often delayed while careers are developed. A woman's fertility declines significantly once she reaches the age of 35 years.

Fertility Clinics: A Discussion

Many human fertility clinics perform In-vitro Fertilization (IVF) procedures. The term "in-vitro" is derived from a Latin phrase meaning "in glass." Some couples are unable to conceive naturally. So, ova extracted from a woman's body are fertilized in a glass dish in a laboratory. Usually, her husband's sperm is used. A few of the healthiest embryos are implanted in the woman's uterus.

These facilities are sometimes called Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) laboratories. There are about 356 such labs in the U.S. Their goal is to impregnate women who otherwise would not be able to have a child (Hassan and Killick, 2004). The procedure involves:

Giving special medication to the woman that results in the development, growth, and maturation of eggs in a woman's ovaries

Extracting perhaps 24 mature mature ova (aka oocytes) from the woman's ovaries

Fertilizing the ova with sperm, typically from her husband or an anonymous donor

Placing the embryos in a special incubator which encourages their growth

Selecting two to four healthy-looking embryos and implanting them in the woman's uterus.

Disposing of the remaining 20 or so surplus embryos in some manner.

The disposal of almost all of the embryos results, or will result, in their death. Yet, even though the pro-life movement regards all embryos as human persons, pro-lifer leaders seem to be mainly concerned about the few dozen embryos which have been killed by having their stem cells extracted. There seems to be little or no concern over the many hundreds of thousands of embryos which have been killed or which will eventually die in IVF clinics (Hassan and Killick, 2004). How surplus embryos are processed:

There are only two options for the surplus embryos -- those that are not implanted in the woman's uterus: Most often, the spare embryos are deep-frozen in liquid nitrogen. This is called "cryopreservation." Of the 232 labs who returned surveys to a government survey, 215 (94.7%) have the equipment to preserve embryos. Their fate is mixed:

Some die during the freezing process;

Some die while they are subsequently thawed.

They may eventually die because of operator error or equipment malfunction. If the original attempt at IVF fails to ...