Oct 5, 2007

Embryo Transfer

I recently read two journal articles in complete horror, that described two women who had quadruplet pregnancies via IVF. Both mothers elected to 'reduce' the pregnancy, that is, abort some of the babies. One woman terminated two of her four babies, but the third baby also died after the procedure. She later successfully gave birth to a single live female.

The second woman also terminated two of her four babies, and later gave birth to twin girls.

I was totally sickened and dismayed at reading the articles. Surely if a woman is infertile, any babies no matter how many would be welcomed by the woman? Speaking as a fertile woman, some readers may think I have no right to judge, but I know even with five other children, I could never selectively terminate just because there was one baby too many.

In the 1970's, IVF was developed to help women with real medical need, like Louise Joy Brown's mother who was in her 30's and unable to have any children. Any pregnancy created by it was seen as a blessing. Now, more and more it is used to determine family size, with women opting for just one, or just two children, and couples having IVF at a later date when they already have a previous family. The sanctity of human life is being eroded if doctors and women now feel they have the right to terminate a multiple pregnancy just because there are 'too many' babies.

In my opinion, if someone goes into IVF then they should do so in the full knowledge that it might result in triplets or quads, and be prepared to accept that. If they can't, they shouldn't be having IVF.