Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Just doing a bit of research...

Taken from www.cmdahome.org
Biblical Principles

Reflection on ART possibilities by Christians should begin by recalling the sanctity of human life: each individual is a unique creation with special worth to God. In addition, God is sovereign: He has ultimate control over who will conceive and bear a child. At the same time, we are stewards of our bodies and our resources: we will be held accountable for how we use the gifts He has given us. Scripture defines a family as being composed of one woman and one man joined in exclusive commitment, and it calls children resulting from that union a gift from God. Finally, scripture suggests that God approves of adoption by His blessing of adopted children (Moses, Esther), and by the fact that believers are all adopted in our redemption (Romans 8:23).

Concerns

One of the most significant specific moral concerns of Christians in regard to ART is the multitude of fertilized eggs which do not develop to maturity. The conception of Louise Brown came after greater than 500 unsuccessful fertilizations. Even with the better ART techniques available today, far more fertilized eggs die after unsuccessful attempts at implantation than actually develop into a live-born baby. Equally disturbing is the number of early zygotes which remain frozen and unused after a couple has had successful ART, their moral status a subject of debate, and their fate in limbo. Another basic question which troubles some is the necessity of using masturbation to retrieve semen for most of the techniques. In addition to these basic questions are questions about application of the above biblical principles to the host of modern technological possibilities. Many of these questions and others are explored by the authors of several of the resources listed below.

The final chapter on the ethical issues in ART is not written yet, not even in outline form. New technologies will raise new dilemmas. Some new technologies may even answer earlier dilemmas. For example intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI - the introduction by micro-manipulation of one sperm into one egg) may reduce the need for sperm donors; individual sperm may often be retrieved from a man who was previously considered completely infertile. At the same time, this technique raises other moral issues such as the methods of selection used to choose the egg to be fertilized.

Last but not least is praying fervently like Hanna and ask Him to guide you to a Gynecologist whom He will use to create a human life through you.

Taken from http://www.religioustolerance.org/abo_inco.htm
How surplus embryos are processed:
There are only two options for the surplus embryos -- those that are not implanted in the woman's uterus:
Most often, the spare embryos are deep-frozen in liquid nitrogen. This is called "cryopreservation." Of the 232 labs who returned surveys to a government survey, 215 (94.7%) have the equipment to preserve embryos. Their fate is mixed:
Some die during the freezing process;
Some die while they are subsequently thawed.
They may eventually die because of operator error or equipment malfunction.
If the original attempt at IVF fails to produce a pregnancy, then some embryos may be thawed out and a second implantation attempted. Probably about three out of four of these thawed embryos will die without developing into a fetus. Probably fewer than one in four will develop into a fetus and a newborn.
Some embryos will probably lose their ability to induce a pregnancy over time. One source says that about 25% of frozen and thawed embryos do not survive between a first and second impregnation procedure. Another source says that some frozen embryos might survive for decades.
On the order of 9,000 of the 400,000 embryos preserved in cryogenic freezers in American fertility clinics are available for use by other couples. As of 2003-AUG, 31 embryos have been successfully implanted in the uterus of unrelated women, and were later born. Fourteen more are expected to be born by the end of 2003. These are often called "snowflake babies" by pro-life groups. 4
Those embryos that are not preserved in liquid nitrogen will inevitably die. They have no chance of living or developing into a newborn. Many clinics simply discard or destroy them. Some embryos are simply flushed down a sink drain while alive. Some are transferred to a medical waste bin where they are later incinerated, while alive. Some simply expose the embryos to the air and let them die naturally; this normally takes up to four days. Still other embryos are donated for research and experimentation, for personnel training, or for diagnostic purposes. At this stage in their development, they fortunately have no brain, no central nervous system, no pain sensors, no consciousness, no awareness of their environment. Thus, no matter by which method they are disposed, they will feel no discomfort.

1 comment:

Hope said...

where are you?