Thinking about Freezing Your Eggs?

In this video, WFAA-Dallas explores the emotional and technical process of women freezing their eggs to ensure future fertility. What do you think?

Bioethics in the News

New Test Can Predict Cancer More Than a Decade Before DiagnosisThe Telegraph reported that scientists at Harvard and Northwestern University have devised a test that can predict with 100% accuracy whether a person will develop cancer up to 13 years in the future, as changes are already taking place on chromosomes more than a decade prior to diagnosis.New Drug Info Made PublicThe New York Times reports that Medicare has released detailed data on prescription drug use in the USA.  The data was the most detailed breakdown ever provided by government officials about the prescription claims of Medicare beneficiaries.Couple Fighting Over Frozen Embryos(New York Times) “Our frozen embryos have a right to live,” says Sofia Vergara’s ex-fiancé. Last August he filed a complaint in Santa Monica, Calif., using pseudonyms, to protect two frozen embryos the couple created.NIH Reiterates Ban on Editing Human Embryo DNA(Nature) – The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) has reaffirmed its ban on research that involves gene editing of human embryos. In a statement released on 29 April, NIH director Francis Collins, a Christian, spelled out the agency’s long-standing policy against the practice. 

Embryo Adoption

Thanks to my friend Shannon B for bringing this to my attention: People magazine is running a series on embryo adoption (part I  and part 2), and so far it's been quite good. Check it out!

News from the World of Assisted Reproduction

Bioedge.org reports that in vitro fertilization (IVF) andICSI birth defects may be decreasing. They cite a Western Australia study ofmore than 200,000 births that included nearly 2,000 IVF and ICSI babies. Researchersfound the following from fertility clinics:

From 1994–1998, nearly 11% of babies had a birth defectdiagnosed by age 6

From 1998–2002, only about 7.5% had a birth defect diagnosedby age 6

The lead author attributes the changes to improvedlaboratory practices, wiser use of meds for ovarian stimulation, and fewerembryos transferred.

The study included some pregnancies terminated because of birthdefects. Major birth defects were listed as cleft lip, hip dysplasia, and malformationsof the heart, abdominal wall and genitals. These affected about 8% of singletonbabies conceived through IVF and ICSI, compared to about 5% of babies conceivednaturally.

What I’d like to know: Could the “improvement” be due topre-implantation genetic diagnosis in which embryos found to have genetic issuesare destroyed before transfer?

Bioedge has also reported that a Danish donor passed onsevere birth defects by fathering dozens of children through a clinic inCopenhagen. It was supposed to limit to twenty-five the number of childrenfathered by one door, but the donor had fathered at least forty-three kids viasperm distributed through fourteen clinics.

At least five offspring from this donor have been found tohave a tumor-producing nerve disorder known as Neurofibromatosis type I (NF1)or Von Recklinghausen's disease. Though the clinic was notified about fouryears ago, they did nothing to prevent further use of the donor’s sperm.Parents are considering legal action. And Danish health officials have imposeda new twelve-pregnancy per donor rule.  

The Frozen Chosen

Last month my former coauthor, Dr. William Cutrer, spoke in Washington D.C. at a conference on “Emerging Issues in Embryo Donation and Adoption.” After reading up on the literature, he wrote this to me:

“Embryo freezing [cryopreservation] involves gradually replacing the water inside each cell with a chemical related to antifreeze used in automobiles, so the water doesn't freeze, explode, and kill the cells and the baby. Tiny ice shards can penetrate/perforate the cell walls, killing the embryo in either the freezing or thawing process. If they freeze an eight- to sixteen-cell embryo, they expect a couple of the cells to be destroyed in the thaw, even in the embryos that survive—a testimony to the remarkable recuperative ability of the human embryo. But, knowing this makes me even more opposed to cryopreservation. We'd never risk a "real" baby that way, and I believe they are real babies.

I still favor the adoption of currently frozen embryos, but I'm even more opposed to cryo... freeze eggs, and gasoline prices, not babies.

Embryos: Cold as Ice

Researchers from Duke and Johns Hopkins universities asked more than two thousand IVF patients what they would like to do with their unused embryos. More than twelve hundred responded, and here’s a look at their info:

• 49% preferred to donate them to science.
• 60% (63% of the women, 51% of the men) preferred to donate them for stem cell research.
• 22% were somewhat or very likely to donate them to another couple
• 22% preferred to destroy the embryos.

What happens to unused embryos in other countries?

Germany: Legal maximum of eggs collected in IVF is three. All embryos created must be transferred to uterus.

Denmark: Embryos may be stored for 2 years. Stem cell research and treatment allowed. Embryo donation to another couple, illegal.

Australia: Allows embryos frozen for up to two years, donated to another couple, or destroyed.

Belgium: Allows embryo stores for up to five years, donated to a couple, or destroyed.

UK: Usually destroyed after 5 years.

Italy: Prohibits destruction of embryos. Legal maximum of eggs collected in IVF is three. All embryos must be transferred to uterus.

Spain: Legal to freeze embryos but illegal to destroy or donate them to research. Because most couples prefer not to donate to other patients, 50,000 embryos now sit frozen.