Too much in the news today to keep up with on the latest study on what to do with all the leftover embryos. People apparently don’t like their options. One article said “Women are Unhappy With Disposal Options“. Another article recognized the father and said, “Parents Torn Over Fate of Frozen Embryos“. And a third claimed, “The Largest Study of Fertility Patients Show Concerns About Embryo Disposition“.

Presently, what are the options that make them unhappy, torn or concerned? Briefly their options are:

1) Keep them frozen indefinitely (which requires on-going fees to pay for storage)
2) Donate them to others who can’t have children or just want to “rescue” the frozen
3) Give them to the scientists for research
4) Use them yourself for more children

I’ll be watching this space closely as we now the new administration is planning to allow more federal funding to be used to do research on these “surplus, leftover” embryos. Perhaps if the Federal government gives more funding, more couples will be inclined to give them to research?

What about this option? Since we know how we get “surplus” embryos is by hyperstimulating women’s ovaries AND we know that hyperstimulation drugs are dangerous (and sometimes life threatening), maybe we should adopt laws like in Germany and Italy which do not permit “surplus” embryos to be created. Makes good sense to me as a place to start.

Author Profile

Jennifer Lahl, CBC Founder
Jennifer Lahl, CBC Founder
Jennifer Lahl, MA, BSN, RN, is founder and president of The Center for Bioethics and Culture Network. Lahl couples her 25 years of experience as a pediatric critical care nurse, a hospital administrator, and a senior-level nursing manager with a deep passion to speak for those who have no voice. Lahl’s writings have appeared in various publications including Cambridge University Press, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Dallas Morning News, and the American Journal of Bioethics. As a field expert, she is routinely interviewed on radio and television including ABC, CBS, PBS, and NPR. She is also called upon to speak alongside lawmakers and members of the scientific community, even being invited to speak to members of the European Parliament in Brussels to address issues of egg trafficking; she has three times addressed the United Nations during the Commission on the Status of Women on egg and womb trafficking.