POV: It’s Time to Regulate the Fertility Industry
By George Annas,
Boston University Today
| 07. 16. 2015
Untitled Document
The fertility industry is big business. There are more than 450 fertility clinics in the United States alone, and their assisted reproduction technology (ART) procedures result in about 50,000 live birth deliveries and 62,000 infants a year (some deliveries involve multiple babies). This is about 1.5 percent of all live births, but 5.7 percent of all low-birth-weight babies. Of ART babies, 36 percent are born prematurely (compared to 12 percent of non-ART babies). Multiple births can put both mother and babies at risk. Singletons account for about 55 percent of all ART infants, with 42 percent twins and 3 percent triplets or more. This compares to 97 percent of all non-ART births that are singletons. This incredibly high incidence of multiple births and premature infants in ART is a problem that has yet to be effectively addressed, although transferring single embryos seems likely to be the primary solution.
The fertility industry responds to a real need and helps many couples have children they could not otherwise have. Nonetheless, because of the intense desire on the part of patients...
Related Articles
A Review of Exposed by Becky McClain
“Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.”
— John Lewis
Becky McClain became famous when she successfully sued Pfizer, one of the very largest pharmaceutical and biotech companies. She...
By Katherine Long, Ben Foldy, and Lingling Wei, The Wall Street Journal | 12.13.2025
Inside a closed Los Angeles courtroom, something wasn’t right.
Clerks working for family court Judge Amy Pellman were reviewing routine surrogacy petitions when they spotted an unusual pattern: the same name, again and again.
A Chinese billionaire was seeking parental...
By Sarah Kliff, The New York Times | 12.10.2025
Micah Nerio had known since his early 30s that he wanted to be a father, even if he did not have a partner. He spent a decade saving up to pursue surrogacy, an expensive process where he would create embryos...
By Carter Sherman, The Guardian | 12.08.2025
A huge defense policy bill, revealed by US lawmakers on Sunday, does not include a provision that would have provided broad healthcare coverage for in vitro fertilization (IVF) for active-duty members of the military, despite Donald Trump’s pledge...
