The contributions of empirical evidence to socio-ethical debates on fresh embryo donation for human embryonic stem cell research

Bioethics

Volumn 25, Issue 6, 2011, Pages 334-341

  Haimes, Erica ^a   Taylor, Ken ^a  

^a NEWCASTLE UNIVERSITY   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

Embryo donation; Embryo donors; Embryos; Empirical bioethics; HESC research; Spare embryos

Indexed keywords

ARTICLE; CRYOPRESERVATION; EMBRYO RESEARCH; ETHICS; FEMALE; FERTILIZATION IN VITRO; HUMAN; LIVING DONOR; METHODOLOGY; PERSUASIVE COMMUNICATION; PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECT; STEM CELL;

COERCION; CRYOPRESERVATION; EMBRYO RESEARCH; FEMALE; FERTILIZATION IN VITRO; HUMANS; LIVING DONORS; STEM CELLS;

EID: 79958815196     PISSN: 02699702     EISSN: 14678519     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8519.2009.01792.x     Document Type: Article

References (56)

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2. 'Donation' is an increasingly problematic term since it implies certain motivations: Haimes has argued for the use of 'provision' as a less value-laden term; E. Haimes. Acquiring and providing human organs, gametes and tissue in the clinical context: socio-cultural issues. Presentation to the Nuffield Council on Bioethics Workshop: Volunteering, donation and payment in the clinical context December2008
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11. Reference to the 'third' embryo is shorthand: in the UK usually only two embryos can be transferred back to the woman in any single cycle of treatment; if she has more than two good quality embryos these can, in theory, be frozen. At the time of our research, this particular clinic had had a longstanding policy of freezing a minimum of four top quality embryos in any one cycle. This policy was rooted in a cautious view of the efficacy of using frozen-thawed embryos in treatment, so some couples could have had up to three top quality embryos that were neither transferred nor frozen. IVF is still an evolving field and elements of that policy have since changed
12. We note however that there is some uncertainty in the details of her response anyway since if she had had four good quality embryos remaining they would have qualified, numerically, for being frozen
13. The practicalities of fieldwork meant that we were unable to observe the consenting procedures so cannot comment directly on this but the willingness of many interviewees to take responsibility for their decisions to donate deserves further attention, especially in light of McLeod and Baylis' concern that women might be coerced or exploited
14. Haimes and Taylor 2009, op. cit. note 72147
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50. We are grateful to one of the anonymous reviewers for raising this point
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52. E. Haimes, R. Porz, J. Leach Scully, & C. Rehmann-Sutter"So, what is an embryo " A comparative study of the views of those asked to donate embryos for hESC research in the UK and Switzerland, New Genet Soc200827113-126
53. Whilst the patients quoted in this paper express concern about the 'troubling third embryo' going to research and in so doing suggest that the consent procedures could have been clearer, neither they nor other interviewees raised questions about the appropriateness or otherwise of the clinic requesting embryos for research. More detailed data from this study can be found in Haimes and Taylor20092147
54. Alternatively the global practice of freezing could be more rigorously regulated in the hope of removing the dilemmas described in this paper. Even if this was thought to be a desirable goal (and there are arguments both for and against such a goal that word limits prevent us exploring here) the difficulty of accessing reliable information about freezing practices and policies, in the UK let alone elsewhere, suggests that this would not be easily attained. Baylis et al. op. cit. note 18
55. J. CollinsMild Stimulation for In Vitro Fertilization, Hum Reprod Update2009151-3
56. Equally it might well be the case that more frozen embryos are made available for research since the later the stage at which the request for embryos for research is made, the greater the chance that at least some of the IVF patients will have been successful in getting pregnant, or will have thought differently about their frozen embryos