60 Minutes: A Surplus of Embryos
February 13, 2006
60 Minutes last night aired a report on the surplus embryo situation in the United States. Currently, there are approximately 400,000 frozen embryos in fertility clinics around the country. As the report identified, the couples to whom these embryos belong have five options: 1) use the embryos to have another child; 2) destroy the embryos by thawing and discarding them; 3) donate the embryos to another couple for adoption; 4) donate the embryos for medical research (i.e., stem cell research), which will destroy the embryos; or 5) do nothing, allowing the embryos to remain frozen.
More than anything, the report highlights the fact that the reproductive medical industry is under regulated. A review of the book Baby Business: Elite Eggs, Designer Genes, and the Thriving Commerce of Conception at Salon.com (subscription/registration required) makes much the same point.
However, freeing up surplus embryos for research will not solve the embryonic stem cell debate. The same study (PDF) that revealed the fact that the number of frozen embryos had reached 400,000, also found that only 2.8% (about 11,000) of those embryos were available for research.
In addition, the problem with arguing for more regulation is two-fold. First, as Dr. George identified in the 60 Minutes report, fertility regulation may be “the true third rail of American politics, maybe a more dangerous issue even than Social Security.” Second, and perhaps not unrelated, is the fact that regulation could lead to what many would consider worse outcomes. The United Kingdom, for example, closely regulates fertility medicine and mandates that frozen embryos be destroyed after a set period of time (5 or 10 years, there has been some dispute).
Finally, to come back to the idea that surplus IVF embryos won’t solve the debate, take a look at a series of articles from July 2005 at Slate.com. Entitled “The Organ Factory,” the series points out the logical progression of the ethical arguments currently being advanced in favor of embryonic stem cell research.
To borrow language from TV Guide, Cheers to CBS for a good report, but Jeers for missing the larger context.
