People undergo in vitro fertilisation (IVF) for a variety of reasons. Frequently, those reasons surround infertility. There is, however, another reason for freezing embryos – postponing parenthood.

Since contraceptives have become commonplace, family planning has been an important, and for the most part, accepted part of modern society. Choosing when and with whom one would like to have a child has changed many aspects of family life, including family size, the ages of the parents, and the ability of one or both parents to work.

It seems logical then, that this mindset, combined with IVF technologies would result in “preservation IVF” – or when young, fertile parents donate gametes and create then freeze IVF embryos in order to preserve them for the future, in the event that they decide to have children. [1]

Those who opt for preservation IVF go through the typical IVF procedures – without undergoing implantation in the uterus. Each of the embryos created from the procedure are frozen until the parents decide to use them. One reason for doing this is that the embryos created from gametes of younger parents may be healthier and have lower rates of genetic disorders than those created by parents over 35. [2]

Like other methods of family planning, preservation IVF would allow parents to postpone parenthood in order to establish careers, or simply wait until they were ready to become parents. Yet, unlike simply waiting to start a family naturally, freezing embryos may be viewed as a type of baby insurance policy, in which the parents know that they will have a chance of having their own biological children at a later date. Of course, like any IVF procedures, there are no guarantees that the embryos will successfully implant in the uterus or that the pregnancy will be successful.

As with any scenario that involves embryos, several ethical issues are raised. First, there are the usual claims that the embryo is an actual person, or at least deserving of respect. Many of the same arguments used against embryonic stem cell research are used against preventative IVF, centring on the moral status of the embryo. Some may have difficulty with parents creating embryos – which they may or may not even need in the future – as an insurance policy. Couples that undergo preservation IVF may very well decide to have a child naturally in the future, and therefore never require the frozen embryos. This results in the familiar conundrum of what to do with the surplus frozen embryos. Those who believe that the embryo is a person would disagree with the destruction of the embryo for any purpose, including research.

Additionally, some may have difficulty with fertile, young couples undergoing a procedure typically utilised to treat infertility. Again, the argument could be made that the embryo is an actual person, and creating a person solely for the purpose of sitting in a freezer in the event that the couple decides to use it to have a child in the future, is unethical. However, those who do not view an embryo as a person can argue that people pay for elective medical procedures all the time and for various reasons, and if preventative IVF is something they believe they may benefit from, they should be free to undergo the procedure.

Another familiar IVF-related issue is that of prohibitively high costs. Each step in the IVF process costs something, from pre-screening evaluations, to the procedure itself, to the annual storage costs. The high costs and numerous steps in the process will inevitably exclude many people that think they would benefit from freezing embryos for future use. This may result in the procedure and the frozen embryos themselves being viewed as a commodity, available only to those who can afford it. However, the same argument can be made about many other medical procedures, specifically in countries without a comprehensive healthcare system.

Lastly, there are the typical issues of embryo ownership that arise from those who use IVF to treat infertility, such as what happens to the embryos if one gamete donor no longer wants to be a parent. This, however, is an issue any time a couple decides to freeze unused embryos – whether it is for preventative or traditional IVF treatments.

Ultimately, it is the right of the parents to determine when and how to bring children into the world. Parents will clearly be influenced by their own ethical standpoints – particularly on the moral status of the embryo – when making the decision to conceive and bear children naturally, or with the assistance of IVF treatment.

References

1 For a firsthand account of this, see http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2010/07/02/ST2010070204778.html?sid=ST2010070204778.

2. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2010/07/02/ST2010070204778.html?sid=ST2010070204778.

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	Baby Insurance - Freezing embryo's now to become parents later.pdf