ASSISTED REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGY

A recent article in page 8 of the New Sunday Times dated 14 Nov 2004 entitled “Donor dads help childless couples” caught my interest recently and prompted me to share my views on assisted reproductive technology.

In this article, a sperm bank centre in Damansara which had been operating for the last 10 years pays its donors, who are married male volunteers, a fee of RM 200 each time to donate their sperm to the centre. The sperm is then offered to childless couples presumably to help the recipient become pregnant through various methods such as Artificial Insemination by Donor(AID) or In Vitro Fertilization(IVF) also known by its more common name of test tube baby procedure or perhaps even other forms of assisted fertility procedures. “A fee for good sperm….Frozen eggs and embryos for sale….Wombs for hire……”all these seem to portray assisted reproductive technology as a commodity ready to be offered to the desperate buyer.

Although the objective of trying to help childless couples to conceive is a noble and very laudable act, the means by which this objective is achieved may be illicit in accordance with certain religious faiths and may also be contrary to medical ethics.

The Catholic Church opposes IVF and AID for various reasons. It believes that fertilization should be a natural process and should be the result of a loving sexual union between husband and wife. IVF involves the mixing of sperm and harvested eggs under controlled laboratory conditions in an attempt to produce embryos which are then implanted(embryo transfer) into the uterus of the recipient. Usually 1 to 3 healthy embryos are selected and the rest of the embryos are frozen and kept for later use. Although researchers freeze embryos in order to preserve the life of the embryo, this exposes them to risks of physical harm and leaves them in a vulnerable position whereby they may be subjected to further experimentation and manipulation such as embryonic stem cell research etc. Not many people are aware that IVF patients must usually agree to an early amniocentesis if they become pregnant, the rationale being that they will have an abortion if any abnormality in the foetus is discovered. Studies have also shown that infants conceived through IVF have a higher risk of major birth defects compared with infants conceived through natural fertilization. Thus when Drs Streptoe and Edwards delivered the first IVF baby, Louise Brown, in 1978, little did they know that they had opened a Pandora’s box and unleashed more ethical problems than they had envisaged.

Similarly, in order to carry out AID, we need sperm and sperm donation involves masturbation which is the usual method of obtaining a specimen. The idea of a donor fathering large numbers of secret children and its implications is truly mind boggling. We now have other procedures like ICSI,GIFT,ZIST,PROST etc. There is now donation not only of sperm but also of eggs(ova), of frozen embryos and a leasing arrangement of wombs of surrogate mothers(wombs for hire).

The main aim in IVF and AID is to fulfill a woman’s desire to be able to bear her own child. Although this child will be welcomed and loved, very often its status and interests are ignored during the process of trying to achieve a successful pregnancy. The child in its embryo stage becomes an object ready to be bought or sold, frozen, aborted, experimented or disputed over in litigation.
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Perhaps we should focus our attention on other alternatives.
NaPro (natural procreation) technology which was initiated at the Pope Paul VI institute in Oregan, USA when combined with other medical procedures have achieved a success rate of up to 80% in the treatment of infertility. This technology is acceptable to all faiths.
We do not need to destroy embryos to harvest their stem cells. Adult stem cell research have advanced tremendously and has shown great potential compared with embryonal stem cell research. Adult stem cells have been injected into failing hearts, spinal cords and damaged brain tissues. Other researchers are working towards generating tissues for treating Parkinson’s Disease, Huntington’s Disease, Spinal Cord injuries etc. There are thousands of unwanted babies waiting for adoption. We should encourage more childless couples to think about adoption and perhaps give these unfortunate babies the love, care, dignity and hope that every child or human person deserves.