Embryo Harvesting

Many people all over the world want children but are unable to have them naturally.  Some try surrogacy, yet some go the alternative route. Years of research and testing created a new way to have children and that is embryo harvesting.  Embryo harvesting has become an effective and efficient way for couples to have children who are unable to do so naturally.  Since embryo harvesting is not a natural way for couples to have children, there are a couple of ethical concerns.

In this case, a woman’s husband died of cancer and the woman decided to conceive twins using his frozen sperm eighteen months after his death.  Some people feel that it is great because the woman can give more meaning to her husband’s life even after death by producing two children that are his.  “Women who became pregnant had lower levels of depression than those who did not” (Isoyama et al., 2012, pg. 86).  This shows that being able to get pregnant helps make women more mentally healthy because it reduces the risk of depression.  But, there is an ethical drawback of embryo harvesting.  “Implantation is orchestrated and regulated by a very carefully synchronized interplay of hormonal signals and feedback loops, making it potentially vulnerable to chemicals such as BPA that may disrupt endocrine signaling” (Ehrlich et al., 2012, pg. 980).  This is a huge ethical concern because studies have shown that the chemicals can cause miscarriages as well as other health problems. There is also concern over the use of an embryo for cloning purposes. 

Based on the information on the positive and negative effects of embryo harvesting, the decision is the parents’ as well as the doctors’ choice to make.  If the parents and doctors are not concerned with the ethical issues of embryo harvesting, they will use that method to give the parents a chance at having children.

References

Isoyama, D., B. Cordts, Angela Mara, B., Carvalho, W., Matsumura, S., & P. Barbosa. (2012). Effect of acupuncture on symptoms of anxiety in women undergoing in vitro fertilisation: a prospective randomised controlled study. Acupuncture In Medicine, 30(2), 85-88. doi:10.1136/acupmed-2011-010064

Ehrlich, S., Williams, P. L., Missmer, S. A., Flaws, J. A., Berry, K. F., Calafat, A. M., & ... Hauser, R. (2012). Urinary bisphenol a concentrations and implantation failure among women undergoing in vitro fertilization. Environmental Health Perspectives, 120(7), 978-983. doi:10.1289/ehp.1104307