Creating Life
Learn more about in-vitro fertilization and some of the ethical dilemmas that are arising from its practice

More than 26,000 “test tube” babies have been born since the first in 1978, and thousands more embryos are on ice in fertility clinics across the world. With the many advances in medical technology, the ability to assist infertile couples and aid in scientific research has never been more attractive. And yet, this fast growing fertility industry is strangely under regulated. As medial technology advances at the speed of light, our own government is having a hard time keeping up. Art Caplan, director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of PA writes, “In the United States today, there is more oversight of the breeding of purebred animals than there is the creation of human beings.”

In these past 22 years, every variation on the theme of baby making has been tried, with some mixed results. But for the honest, normal couple, struggling with the intense pain of infertility, the option of In-Vitro fertilization seems not only logical, but beneficial.

However, the confusion surrounding the ethical implications is tremendous. What about donating embryos for adoption or research? What about donating ova and sperm? Are the rights of the frozen, and often discarded, extra embryos being violated? Are doctors abusing their role as they create and destroy life? How much are fertility clinics profiting from scared, desperate couples?

In an effort to shed some light on some of these tough questions, RLM News has interviewed Dr. Laurence Burns, a Grand Rapids obstetrician.

RLM News: Do most couples fully understand what is involved in the In-Vitro Fertilization process?

Dr. Burns: My impression is that most people do not. They just know they have a fertility problem. You see, there are many variations and types of fertility difficulties and fertility treatments, and sometimes confusion about the process mixed with some subtle moral nuances may cause couples to question the potential risks and benefits of the procedure. They may also wonder whether what they are about to do is even acceptable or morally sound.

RLM News: Is it common practice to implant multiple human embryos into the woman?

Dr. Burns: Yes, and that is a medical concern as it often results in multiple births. Today we are seeing many triplets, quadruplets and quintuplets, and these kinds of multiples carry serious risks to the mother and to the unborn children. You seldom see these kinds of multiples occur in nature. Women are often put at risk without understanding what the complications are...for herself and her children. Many fertility centers encourage multiple implantations in order to end up with “good statistics,” but the health of these women and the babies needs to be a priority.

RLM News: What usually happens, then, to the human embryos that do not implant and grow?

Dr. Burns: Well, the ones that don’t implant and grow, die. It is as simple as that. You should understand, though, that this also happens in nature. We usually call that a miscarriage. But with In-Vitro, we (the doctor and the couple) are just more involved in the process. We need to ask ourselves if we feel comfortable being involved in the process. When I, as someone in the medical profession, intentionally do something that I know at some point may put the health of the mother at risk, and the health and life of the unborn children at risk, at what point am I responsible for the outcome? When a doctor implants multiples, and knows that there is a good statistical chance that not all of the young children will reach term and that the mother and babies are at risk, is that a responsible medical thing to do?

RLM News: Are couples and doctors able to genetically alter the gender of a child before it is even implanted?

Dr. Burns: Not really, but what couples have been doing, is creating embryos and then deciding to implant the ones that are the gender they want. In other words, if they want a girl, and a boy is conceived and implanted, they will destroy the boy. To me, this is morally unacceptable.

RLM News: There was a recent documented case where a couple asked to only have two or three embryos implanted, but the doctor wanted to make sure the success rate was good, so he, against their knowledge, implanted five. All five embryos attached and the couple is now faced with raising quintuplets....something they never planned on and never would have okayed. Are these cases rare or common?

Dr. Burns: I know these kinds of cases do occur, and in my mind, that is a simple case of medical malpractice. The doctor put the mother at risk, the babies at risk and did not proceed with any kind of informed consent. In fact, I’m surprised we haven’t heard of more lawsuits with these kinds of cases. These may very well become more common as fertility procedures such as In-Vitro become more common.

RLM News: Do most doctors advise couples to fertilize and store (freeze) multiple embryos in case the In-Vitro process doesn’t work the first time?

Dr. Burns: Many programs do suggest storing either embryos or eggs. And there is a huge risk with storing embryos. What if the pregnancy goes on to completion with the first set of implantations? What then happens to these extra embryos? Many couples do not want to be faced with the decision of what to do with their extra biological children. There have been custody cases as well. We are treating young human life as a product to be altered, stored, bought and sold.

RLM News: What then, usually happens to those extra embryos?

Dr. Burns: There are questions as to whether you can adopt your embryos out or simply give them away. We have to be careful any time we separate parents from their biological children. I think identity is important to all children and this process confuses that identity. It has the same potential risk that any adoption has, but with this, the legal field just hasn’t caught up with the biological process and the many situations that can arise.

RLM News: In light of the new National Institutes of Health guidelines for the use of federal funds for embryonic stem cell research, might doctors have a new incentive to create multiple embryos, knowing that the extras can at least be used in scientific research?

Dr. Burns: I think these new guidelines will tend to legitimize the process. Lots of people look to what is being done around them and to these kinds of guidelines to see what is moral. This kind of scientific research will justify, in people’s minds, everything from abortion to donating their extra embryos. It muddies the water. We are treating humans as investigational tissue rather than small human beings.

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