Best of CBC

It’s only natural that some of our articles are more popular than others. Some touch on issues in the current news cycle, while others—like the first item below, which is far and away the most popular article we have ever posted—address bioethics issues that arise in popular culture. Either way it’s good to revisit them from time-to-time. Here are the ten most viewed articles on the CBC website.

My Sister’s Savior
What does it say about a society which permits, no, which condones the use of medicine and technology for the sole purpose of creating human life just to destroy it? Is says we are the culture that has morally and tragically lost its way.

The Trouble with Transhumanism
Sometimes an article cuts through the fog of public debate and discourse to capture the true essence of a movement or belief system. Recently, a transhumanist named Kyle Munkittrick posted just such an article at the Discover magazine website, encapsulating in a nutshell everything that is wrong with transhumanism (about which nearly everything is wrong).

Thinking About Donating Your Eggs? Think Again!
Egg donation is risky business. But unlike other high-risk jobs that offer appropriate compensation for the dangers (e.g., skyscraper window washing), the egg donation process is inherently risky, from beginning to end. What are those risks? Stroke, organ failure, infection, cancer, loss of future fertility, and in rare instances, even death. Sadly, longer-term risks remain a mystery, let alone properly understood, because of the lack of any long-term medical research or follow-ups on egg donors.

Experience of an Anonymous Egg Donor
I volunteered to harvest eggs for a friend, whose ovaries had ceased producing eggs in her early 30’s. She bought donated sperm from a California university sperm bank several years prior to my egg harvest and was being counseled about infertility options. This was not an “eggs for money” contract. I volunteered without a compensation obligation.

Babies Without Sex
In December of 2011, I was invited to tape a show for Dr. Oz, which aired in January of 2012. It is hard to explain what it’s like to tape a show in front of a live audience. There are all the pragmatic realities—such as the very early wake-up call for hair and make-up, show prep, hours of waiting and the sobering fact that you cannot fully control your message.

Woman X: My Story as an Egg Donor
In 2002, when I was 29 and in my graduate career, I found myself desperate for a few thousand dollars. I was all-but-dissertation for a PhD in biology. I had a part-time job at the university making about $800 a month. Somehow I never had time to work on my dissertation.

Waging War on the Weak
Four months ago, a little girl in Samoa was born with serious disabilities. Doctors did not believe the baby could survive, so they urged the parents not to feed their daughter. But the parents loved their daughter and snuck food to Miracle. Beyond all medical expectations, Miracle survived.

IVF: Enough will Never be Enough
UK scientists announced that they will ask the rarely-says-no UK Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) for permission to implant an IVF embryo that is biologically related to three parents (two women and one man). The genetically modified embryo will be created by taking the mitochondrial DNA from a second (destroyed) embryo and replacing it for that of the first. The purpose is to prevent maternally passed genetic diseases. But health is always the justification for opening doors best kept closed. If it succeeds, the technology will not long remain limited to the few and far between. These things rarely do.

Market Competition Collision: Eggs Needed for Research
Another in our series of interviews of women who have come forward with their stories since the release of Eggsploitation. This story is unique in that the woman was asked first to sell her eggs to help make a baby, then the agency asked her to consider selling her eggs for embryonic stem cell research.

The “Duty to Die” Advances
Is there such a thing as a “duty to die?” Some notable voices in bioethics say, yes. They believe that as a matter of distributive justice, when people reach a certain advanced age, severe disability, or very poor health, they owe it to society, their families—and even themselves—to allow life to (or make it) end.