Yesterday, one of my friends
mentioned in passing that she and her twin were “test tube” babies—nothing
unusual in this day and age (though in vitro fertilization faces harsher
restrictions in Europe). As an afterthought, she told me that her mom was once interviewed
on CNN. Why? She was one of few women who remained undecided as to what to do
with her fertilized eggs that were not implanted. These eggs are normally
discarded or, very recently, given to stem cell research. But her mom wasn’t
comfortable with either option, opting instead to have them stored in a lab
until she is able to make a decision.
The story highlighted the
difference between making policy decisions on a macro, impersonal level and making
personal decisions on a micro level. Yes, I believe that embryos that comprise
of only a few cells might as well be used in stem cell research. But the idea
that you can hold something that shares a significant amount of your DNA, and
that has the potential to develop into another whole person makes you stop to
think. Especially because two of those eggs did eventually develop into two bundles
of joy, I found myself surprisingly sympathetic to my friend’s mom’s decision. Even
though she is progressive, in favor of abortion and stem cell research, she
found it hard to just discard such a tiny part of her, not because she adhered
to the conviction that life begins at conception, but because, well, wouldn’t
you?
This gut reaction often underlies
many objections to bioengineering and medical practices in general. The mother’s
support of embryonic stem cell research but reluctance to forfeit her own eggs
to the cause may seem irreconcilable, but if we are careful to distinguish
macro polices and micro decisions, the issue becomes clearer. Objectively, life
is not (yet) legally defined as beginning with conception, and so it is
acceptable to donate un-developed fertilized eggs to research. There is no ethical
problem with a legal policy that allows such donations. However, there would be
something problematic about a legal policy that forced such donations. This is not currently the case, which is why
my friend’s mom is free to store the eggs until she is ready to let them go (or
make some other decision). This is where subjective gut reactions can come into
play—if you, as an individual, are uncomfortable with a certain practice, there
is no reason for you to partake in it. For every woman out there who doesn’t
want to discard her potential babies, there is probably another who is
perfectly happy donating her unused zygotic cells to science. An ethical law in
this case is one that ensures that both women are allowed to make their own
decision.
More about the IVF controversy:
2 comments:
I think there is a lot of merit to the decision made by your friend's mother. If as humans we were not attached to protecting as many of our young as possible where would we be as a species. However, that being said I strongly believe that this should be a decision made on the micro level. I think government has absolutely no place in deciding what happens to embryos obtained by in vitro fertilization.
I think that the government should have no place in this decision primarily because there is such a wide spread of opinions on what to do with these embryos. For example, my family could pose as a completely different view point as the one taken by your friends mother. My mother had in vitro fertilization in one of the first fertility clinics in southern california to preform the procedure. I was the first and only successful implant; however, my mother still had 23 unharvested eggs which she choose to donate to science. But instead of following my mothers wishes the fertility clinic sold the eggs belonging to my mother, and that of many other clients, to buyers in South Africa. My parents were of course unaware of this until they were contacted several years later by the FBI informing them of the clinics actions.
Imagine if you had received such news. Would you decide to search for your genetic children in South Africa, or leave it alone, and consent that they were someone else's children now. My parents choose the latter, which is possibly the most opposite view of the one held by your friend's mother. And for this reason I think the government holds no place in controlling the embryos form in vitro fertilization.
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