I was already upset over proposed legislation in Georgia to limit the number of embryos that can be transferred per IVF cycle. Now, having done a little more research (including reading the actual bill itself) I am beyond horrified.
The bill calls for limits on number of embryos transferred (two for a woman under the age of forty), but it doesn't stop there. It limits the number of eggs that can even be fertilized per cycle to the number of embryos to be transferred; in other words, only two eggs can be fertilized per cycle because only two embryos can be transferred!
The terror this strikes in my little heart is beyond expression.
There are so many problems with this. For starters, as anyone who has ever done IVF knows, number of eggs does not equal number of embryos. Not all eggs fertilize, and not all resulting embryos survive to even be transferred. If the number of embryos that could be made was limited, this would severely impact chances of a pregnancy.
This would also eliminate cryopreservation as an option. If only two eggs can be fertilized per cycle, obviously there would be no embryos left over for later use. This sounds like something out of a horror film. As someone who has done two fresh embryo transfers and one frozen embryo transfer I can say that the frozen embryo transfer was about a million times easier - no painful ovarian stimulation, no surgery, no recovery. To tell someone that she will not have the option of doing IVF again without starting at the beginning and having needles jammed into her ovaries, when she might have been able to have embryos frozen originally, is criminal. And expensive. To repeat the whole process would be another $10,000+ (often not covered by insurance), while using frozen embryos would be a fraction of that cost.
The good Senator is trying to prevent destruction of embryos, championing his cause as pro-life. Well, Senator, you can bite me. I am staunchly pro-life, and believe that embryos are the beginning of life. But telling me I can't create more embryos to use at a later time because of the possibility they might end up destroyed? That's ridiculous!
Yes, some embryos do end up being destroyed - but any embryo that is healthy and growing is either used or preserved. Only embryos with problems are destroyed, because they would not survive or not result in a pregnancy anyway (a process the human body takes care of in a natural pregnancy through miscarriage or the embryo not implanting in the first place). I know that some parents choose to destroy their remaining embryos once they feel their family is complete, but that is not cause to stop the creation of extra embryos altogether.
The bill also states that embryos created through the IVF process are the property of no one, and deserve to be protected. Excuse me, but my embryos = my property, and I will do with them as I see fit.
I do hesitate to say that the government should stay out of all reproductive issues because I believe abortion should be regulated, and only allowed in very rare situations, but in this case, the government should back off.
This is not a pro-life cause. It is an anti-life cause. Fewer women will become mothers if this legislation passes. And that's a situation where a lot of people lose.
3 comments:
I literally started bawling when I read this. Thank you for that research you did. This is so heartbreaking for me, considering I live in Georgia and it very well could affect me in the near future. Don't you worry...I fully intend to voice my opinion strongly about the subject to my representatives and to anyone who will listen for that matter. This will never get passed. Satan is striking at the very core with this one and we have got to strike back. I especially hate the part about we are suddenly not considered the owners of our embryos. If we aren't considered the ones responsible and in charge of our offspring then who is?!
Amy, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to traumatize you! But it is always good to know what legislation is on the table in your state that could have an impact on you. You should definitely write to your representatives about this.
I just heard that the bill has been put on hold while more research is done, so that's good - they say it is unlikely to be voted on this year. And honestly, I seriously doubt that a bill of this kind would actually pass, but that doesn't mean I don't worry about it.
So let's get our voices out there in opposition!
No freakin' way!! Those people are idiots, IDIOTS! I really don't think this could pass, but it's insane that there are those out there, especially law-makers, who are pulling for it. Okay, even totally leaving out the issue of the right to make our own decisions, how dumb do you have to be to not see that just fertilizing two eggs out of the total retrieved will greatly reduce the chances of pregnancy. For example: we got 21, fertilized the 9 we kept (after sharing half with the recipient, a couple weren't usuable), 5 made it to Day3...what if we had only been able to fert 2, and those 2 happened to be 2 of the 4 that didn't make it to Day 3??? Hmmm, oh-so-bright law-makers?? Insane. This can't pass.
Though maybe cryopreserving the remaining eggs would be an option? And then fertilizing them for subsequent cycles, so it would be like an FET? I wonder what the rates for something like that are? Though that would still take longer and end up costing more, since you could still only do 2 at a time...hmmm...And this is not saying that ANY part of this proposed legislation is okay, I'm just wondering out loud about that.
Oh, and yeah, that really bothers me, too. My embryos are MY embryos. They are MY children, and quite obviously belong to ME. Idiots. Did I already say that? ;)
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