For the first time, it’s now known how many frozen human embryos created for infertility treatments are being stored in the United States — 400,000, twice as high as previous estimates.
Many of the embryos will not survive the thawing process but, as the number of “leftovers” left in freezers continues to rise, there are calls to minimize embryo production, put limits on storage time, and to have couples donate the embryos for use in research or for the infertility treatment of other couples.
The last choice has been embraced by the federal government, which is spending $1 million to foster public awareness of the “embryo-adoption” option for infertile couples.
…Lori A. Marshall, MD, head of reproductive endocrinology at Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle, said one point lost in the debate is how many of the embryos actually have the potential to develop into a child.
“I think that’s a misperception: that 400,000 embryos means there could be 400,000 people out there,” she said. “About 35% don’t survive the thawing process.”
Okay so there could be 260,000 more people and 140,000 who died in the process. But actually the death count rises since they implant multiple embryos and hope that at least one survives.
..There is not much complaint about the program’s goal, just its use of the word “adoption,” which in some people’s minds politicizes the process.
“The use of the term ‘adoption’ is loaded,” Dr. Murphy said. “It suggests that there is a recognizable human being in ethics and law, and that’s disputable.”
[Full Story]
Words are used as armour to protect people from truths they would rather not think about. If the truth is bothersome lets call the word loaded or that it politicizes the process. lets not discuss the fact that we have callously frozen human beings and put them into freezers to eventually die or if they are lucky to be experimented on by modern Dr. Josef Mengeles to see if they can find anything useful to do with their little carcasses.
