Egg Donation for IVF and Stem Cell Research
By Judy Norsigian,
Different Takes #33 (Spring 2005)
| 03. 01. 2005
Time to Weigh the Risks to Women’s Health
Last year, Barbara Seaman's article, "Is This Any Way to Have a
Baby?" in O (Oprah) Magazine (February 2004) caused quite a stir among
infertility experts as well as women dealing with infertility. It
explored women's experiences with fertility drugs and underscored the
paucity of long term safety data as well as the serious, occasionally
irreversible problems experienced by some women using these drugs. In
response, members of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine
(ASRM) and the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART)
posted an unusual rebuttal at the ASRM website, and the controversies continue.
Because
there is now significant debate about embryo stem cell research, and
because one type of embryo stem cell research ("somatic cell nuclear
transfer" or SCNT) requires women volunteers to undergo egg extraction
to produce eggs for research purposes, there is renewed attention to
the larger question of risks to women's health from egg extraction
procedures. These procedures are the same whether performed for
reproductive purposes — as is the case in an infertility clinic where
women undergo "in vitro fertilization" (IVF) procedures — or...
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