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3.8 million human embryos created to produce 122,000 live births – success rate of 3.2%
Life Site News ^
| August 19, 2013
| PETER SAUNDERS
Posted on 08/20/2013 10:29:18 AM PDT by NYer
August 18, 2013 (
PJ Saunders) - The Daily Telegraph this weekend
reports on a new expert study which has raised fears that some clinics may be offering techniques that put the embryo at risk for their own profit.
The review, carried out by Dr Justin McCracken, the former head of the Health Protection Agency, highlighted a new technique, known as Pre-Implantation Genetic Screening (PGS), as one which is possibly being offered inappropriately for commercial reasons.
For a fee, which can run into thousands of pounds, clinics can check embryos created by a successful IVF cycle for certain genetic abnormalities and only implant those that appear normal.
The process is becoming especially popular for older couples seeking IVF, because embryos created from their sperm and eggs have a higher chance of abnormalities. As it involves the removal of a cell from an embryo (see picture) it carries some risk for the embryo being tested.
Dr McCracken said the jury was still out on whether PGS improves the chances of having a baby and warned there is a risk of harm to the foetus. He said it was vital that the regulator checks that clinics are not simply recommending it to boost profits.
‘I understand that there is no clinical consensus regarding its efficacy, but there is a real risk to the embryo in carrying it out.’ (emphasis mine)
This is a somewhat curious statement. Dr McCracken seems (appropriately) concerned about the
risk of damage to
a few hundred embryos each year undergoing PGS.
But he is curiously silent (or perhaps unaware) that over three million embryos have perished or been deliberately destroyed since 1990 as a result of procedures made legal by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act.
Liberal Democrat Peer Lord Alton recently asked in parliament how many embryos have been created in each year since the commencement of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, and how many of these have resulted in live births.
Figures given in reply by the Under-Secretary of State at the Department of Health Earl Howe showed that 3,806,699 embryos have been created since 1990. Between 1992 and 2006 a total of 122,043 live births occurred according to
figures from the HFEA given alongside his reply (see also
here).
122,043 live births from 3,806,699 embryos represent a success rate of 3.21%. Or, to put it another way, 3,684,656 embryos never made it to birth.
These figures make McCracken’s concern about PGS embryos alone look like what Jesus called ‘straining a gnat whilst swallowing a camel’ (
Matthew 23:23-24).
In a letter to the Telegraph, as yet unpublished, disability rights advocate Ann Farmer has highlighted the fact that, in addition to the vast wastage of embryos, some women have also died from complications of infertility treatments such as
OHSS. She comments:
‘The whole point of the infertility industry is to manufacture babies out of embryos… A car factory that managed to accumulate 3,684,656 surplus models between 1990 and 2012 and in addition killed some of its customers would surely have gone out of business long ago.’
In 1948 the World Medical Association adopted the Declaration of Geneva which included the affirmation, ‘I will maintain the utmost respect for human life from the time of conception, even against threat’.
Today’s doctors, it seems, take a contrary view.
If you agree with today’s doctors that early human life can be treated as a disposable commodity then the figures that Lord Alton has uncovered (not much short of the current population of New Zealand!) will probably not bother you much at all.
But if, like me, you believe that they are special creations made in God’s image, which should be granted respect, wonder, empathy and protection you will no doubt be very concerned indeed.
TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: ivf
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One reproductive technology which the Catholic Church has clearly and unequivocally judged to be immoral is in vitro fertilization, or IVF. Unfortunately, most Catholics are not aware of the Church's teaching, do not know that IVF is immoral, and some have used it in attempting to have children. Children conceived through this procedure are children of God and are loved by their parents, as they should be. Like all children, regardless of the circumstances of their conception and birth, they should be loved, cherished, and cared for. The immorality of conceiving children through IVF can be difficult to understand and accept because the man and woman involved are usually married and trying to overcome a "medical" problem (infertility) in their marriage. Why, then, is IVF immoral?
In vitro fertilization brings about new life in a petri dish. Children engendered through IVF are sometimes known as "test tube babies." Several eggs are aspirated from the woman's ovary after she has taken a fertility drug which causes a number of eggs to mature at the same time. Semen is collected from the man, usually through masturbation. The egg and sperm are ultimately joined in a glass dish, where conception takes place and the new life is allowed to develop for several days. In the simplest case, embryos are then transferred to the mother's womb in the hope that one will survive to term.
Reproductive Technology
1
posted on
08/20/2013 10:29:18 AM PDT
by
NYer
To: netmilsmom; thefrankbaum; Tax-chick; GregB; saradippity; Berlin_Freeper; Litany; SumProVita; ...
2
posted on
08/20/2013 10:30:16 AM PDT
by
NYer
( "Run from places of sin as from the plague."--St John Climacus)
To: RobbyS; goat granny; piusv; chandlerlansing
Apologies .. meant to ping you to this post.
3
posted on
08/20/2013 10:34:15 AM PDT
by
NYer
( "Run from places of sin as from the plague."--St John Climacus)
To: NYer
So roughly the same success rate as ordinary sex then?
4
posted on
08/20/2013 10:34:35 AM PDT
by
null and void
(Frequent terrorist attacks OR endless government snooping and oppression? We can have both!)
To: NYer
So we only have to answer for 3.6M souls (not counting the 50M aborted ones)? We're in great shape then.
some clinics may be offering techniques that put the embryo at risk for their own profit.
ya think?
5
posted on
08/20/2013 10:35:26 AM PDT
by
jtal
(Runnin' a World in Need with White Folks' Greed - since 1492)
To: NYer
Child sacrifices to the modern day fertility idols.
6
posted on
08/20/2013 10:36:44 AM PDT
by
Boogieman
To: null and void
Way better, actually. I read somewhere that the average American couple has intercourse about 110 times per year. Granted, that not all of those incidents are during the child bearing years. But I would venture that most of them are.
My average was about twice a day when we were first married. Sometime along the way, it has deteriorated to less than twice a week. I'd suspect most people are about the same, though rates and frequencies may vary.
Of course, I never considered the lack of a pregnancy result as a lack of success. Just trying was a whale of a lot of fun.
7
posted on
08/20/2013 10:59:17 AM PDT
by
Vigilanteman
(Obama: Fake black man. Fake Messiah. Fake American. How many fakes can you fit in one Zer0?)
To: Vigilanteman
Your numbers are about the same as I’ve read in several sources (and mirror my own experience as well).
8
posted on
08/20/2013 11:09:24 AM PDT
by
null and void
(Frequent terrorist attacks OR endless government snooping and oppression? We can have both!)
To: null and void
Yes, but roughly 10 to 20 times less successful than an (in vivo) ordinary pregnancy. The rate of spontaneous abortions is assumed to be around 50%, given that most early miscarriages occur before the woman is aware of a pregnancy.
9
posted on
08/20/2013 11:33:42 AM PDT
by
ScaniaBoy
(Part of the Right Wing Research & Attack Machine)
To: ScaniaBoy
So, does the would be mom go to Hell for those?
10
posted on
08/20/2013 11:43:31 AM PDT
by
null and void
(Frequent terrorist attacks OR endless government snooping and oppression? We can have both!)
To: NYer
Normal humans have reverence for the way in which little humans are brought into the world, and are horrified that the process is turned into a laboratory experiment.
To: Vigilanteman
I assume that this bettered the relationship between you and your wife? ;)
12
posted on
08/20/2013 3:46:41 PM PDT
by
RobbyS
To: NYer
And each embryo is the beginning of a baby. Oh my!
13
posted on
08/20/2013 4:01:58 PM PDT
by
Salvation
("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
To: NYer
no apologies needs, just couldn't figure out why you pinged me
To: RobbyS
this as in frequency?
15
posted on
08/21/2013 8:00:20 AM PDT
by
Vigilanteman
(Obama: Fake black man. Fake Messiah. Fake American. How many fakes can you fit in one Zer0?)
To: 2ndMostConservativeBrdMember; afraidfortherepublic; Alas; al_c; american colleen; annalex; ...
16
posted on
08/21/2013 7:46:44 PM PDT
by
Coleus
To: Coleus
thanks for the ping
I just got back from a 3-hour minorleague baseball game. Barely was paying attention ... I find myself thinking about the whole pro-life situation whenever recreational time lets my mind drift.
It’s baffling. here in CT, the more the political culture drifts into the culture of death ... the response of the regular rank-n-file lifers is to drop out of politics and refuse to vote. The boycott voting movement has a complete hold of the pro-life community here in CT.
We’re learning to be grateful for small victories. Very small victories are good.
To: Coleus
I wonder if the majority of Catholics even know the Church’s teachings on IVF. Of course, some DO know, but ignore.
18
posted on
08/22/2013 4:47:38 AM PDT
by
Sun
(Pray that God sends us good leaders. Please say a prayer now.)
To: campaignPete R-CT
“..the response of the regular rank-n-file lifers is to drop out of politics and refuse to vote. The boycott voting movement has a complete hold of the pro-life community here in CT. ..”
Wow.
But I’m also thankful for the few victories we get in my liberal state, and hope for better times in the future.
19
posted on
08/22/2013 4:52:07 AM PDT
by
Sun
(Pray that God sends us good leaders. Please say a prayer now.)
To: Sun
Sun, aren’t you find a general disinterest in upstate NY?
Did people get excited about Gibson? is that your area?
Even Doug Hoffman: he generated big interest on FoxNews cable TV network, but the local conservatives were pretty indifferent I found.
the state GOP went in for Gay marriage ... wonder how the conservative party is going to handle this going forward.
wonder how liberal Elise is. RUnning against Owens.
http://eliseforcongress.com/
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