**Ethics**

**Chapter 10**

**Ethical Implications of Embryo Adoption**

It is estimated that 2.1 million married couples or 5 million people in the United States are affected by infertility.[1] Infertility is defined as failure to get pregnant after one year of unprotected intercourse. About 40% of infertility cases are due to a female factor and 40% due to a male factor. The remaining 20% are the result of a combination of male and female factors, or are of unknown causes. [2] Issues of human infertility are extremely complex physiologi‐ cally, psychologically, financially, legally and ethically. It is estimated that 85-90% of infertile couples will receive conventional treatment and 10-15% may become candidates for various forms of Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ARTs) to assist them in having their own biological children. In-vitro fertilization (IVF) is one of the most utilized reproductive proce‐ dures that has allowed couples to have their own biological children. IVF accounts for 99% of ART. This procedure has been effective but it is still inefficient and expensive. One aspect of the inefficiency is that numerous embryos have been frozen through a process called cryopre‐ servation. It has been estimated that there are 400,000 embryos frozen and stored since the late 1970s. [3] In reality, the actual number of frozen embryos is probably closer to 500,000 with an additional 20,000 embryos added yearly. [4] Freezing these embryos has allowed for a limitation on the number of embryos transferred to a woman's uterus which has decreased the number of multiple gestations. It also allows couples to use the frozen embryos in the future if the initial cycles are unsuccessful. This is not only more effective but also lowers the cost. The issue is now what to do with the 400,000 to 500,000 frozen embryos that remain as "spares." Various alternatives have been suggested. The embryos could be thawed and then destroyed, continued to be cryopreserved indefinitely, used for research, or offered for donation/

adoption. All of these options present problems medically, legally and ethically.

Medically, the lifespan of a cryopreserved embryo is unknown. The effect of the freezing process is also unknown on the quality of the embryo if brought to term. "Studies have found that babies created through IVF are twice as likely to be born underweight and with major

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Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

Peter A. Clark

**1. Introduction**

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/58592
