An in vitro fertilized human ovum is recognized as juridical person and a biological human being neither owned by the in vitro fertilization patients nor by the physician who acts as an agent of fertilization. The facility in which the IVF takes place cannot also claim ownership of this IVF ovum, which is also known as an embryo. During the process of in vitro fertilization, excess embryos may be created. Where extra embryos exist, some clinics give couples a variety of options (Sadhana, 2005). These include continued cryopreservation, donation of embryos to research agencies donation of the embryos to other, while the final option is disposal.
Disposal of embryos has been a controversial issue especially because of the ethical and legal issues that surround the nature of embryos. Disposal of surplus human embryos differs significantly among various in vitro medical centers. Lack of uniformity and congruity in embryo disposal methods has raised some ethical and legal issues about reproductive technology in medical centers across the country. Research into management and disposal of embryos in various IVF clinics reveals that most clinics around the country create and cryopreserve excess embryos, while there are some that frown upon this practise because they believe that their ethical standards do not allow creation of embryos. Lack of uniformity and congruity in disposal practices is quite mind boggling because some clinics perform religious practices before destruction of the embryos through disposal, while others just dispose the embryos without observing the relevant ethical, legal and religious considerations.
Several years ago, the government disallowed government funded researchers from taking stem cells from the excess embryos because of the belief that these embryos are human beings and they deserve respect that is accorded to any other human being. It is not disrespectful to dispose these embryos but deriving stem cells from the embryos is considered disrespectful, unethical and illegal. Though there are ethical and religious considerations that clinics mind in the issue of embryos and their disposal, the Society of Reproductive Medicine does not prescribe any particular disposal methods but it has guidelines that urge informed consent. Additionally, there are no federal legal provisions that govern this area of reproductive medicine and the entire field does not have sound regulations that assign clear authority concerning disposal practices and other measures that can be taken on the embryos. Since there are no central legal provisions regarding embryo disposal practices, different states have different legal provisions regarding formation and disposal of embryos.
Health and safety code 125315 calls on health care specialists to give their patients voluntary choice concerning embryo disposal that remain after they have been treated. The patients are supposed to be given several options that include storage of embryos, donation of embryos to third parties including research agencies and disposal of the embryos. The option that a couple makes depends on their ethical considerations. Embryos are human beings and some people believe that it is ethically and legally wrong to treat the embryos in an in human ways. Such couples consider donating the embryos to third parties or to research foundations rather than having them disposed. Most people with strong ethical and religious backgrounds believe that disposal of these embryos is tantamount to termination of a pregnancy though this seems to be a far fetched notion (Lockwood, 1995). To avoid the legal, religious and legal issues that accompany the issue of disposal of embryos, some clinics allow preserved embryos to thaw and be cultured before they are disposed. They believe that allowing the embryos to die naturally is more ethical than disposing them into waste containers. Natural death of embryos that have been stored over a long period of time is also religiously acceptable since it is akin to the natural death of a human being, but disposal of live embryos is murderous
Sometimes, IVF clinics do not dispose the embryos themselves; they give them to the couples to decide what to do with the embryos. This is a clever move because these IVF clinics place the responsibility on the hands of the patients and this protects the clinics from future issues and lawsuits that could arise after disposing the embryos (Rasmussen, 2009). There are certain instances where clinics lose contact with couples and they cannot make easy decisions regarding what to do with the embryos. It is not ethical for the clinics to consider a couple who have been out of contact for a long period of time as having given up on the extra embryos and the clinics should not make decisions regarding their donation or disposal on behalf of the couple. From a medical, legal and ethical perspective, embryos represent potential life which translates into potential children for the couples. This means that it is important for the IVF clinics to follow up with the long lost couples to ensure that they are effectively informed about the whole process because it would be unethical to take a medical decision that would compromise the emotional wellbeing of the couples.
References
Lockwood, M. (1995). An Ethical Debate: In vitro fertilization. BMI. 310 (6992): 1455–6.
Sadhana, N. (2005). In-vitro fertilization: Disposal issues. Med J. 46 (3): 132–6.
Rasmussen, S.A. (2009). Assisted reproductive technology and major structural birth Defects in the United States. Hum. Reproduction. 24 (2): 360–6.